The Stand Still
by SukiNora
Summary: Heero and Duo have always had an interesting partnership at Preventers, but when Duo takes a mission with Zechs, Heero shows how ruthless he can be to get his way. Eventual 1x2
1. Chapter 1

**The Stand Still**

**By: SukiNora**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own them, I just like to play with them.**

**Pairings: 1+2, 3X4, 5x? **

**Warnings: Duo POV**

**------------------------------**

"Duo, I am not comfortable with this!"

I sighed, rolling my eyes and turned around to see my angry asian partner storming towards my team and I. It wasn't that unusual to see him like this, but I will admit that I was hoping to skip his little temper tantrum.

"Well luckily for me, it's not really your call." I told him matter of factly, crossing my arms over my chest.

I'm sure the newbies behind me were terrified. Ever since we joined up at Preventers four years ago, Heero had been riding the fine line between respect and fear among our co- workers, especially the newbies. Everyone respected his power and ability, but his talents also led a bunch of our co- workers to believe he was super human. Quite frankly I'm not so sure that he isn't. Even after the wars Heero still executed his missions to the highest level of perfection. And apparently this morning, I was his new mission. However, unlike our spineless co- workers, I had no intentions of letting Heero push me around, or try to intimidate me into letting him get his way.

We had become automatic partners when we joined up, big surprise right. But honestly, after watching each others backs during two wars it seemed completely wrong to partner with Wufei or Trowa. Granted, I loved the two of them, but they just didn't hold a candle to the balance Heero and I had together. Sure sometimes we were at each other's throats, but when push came to shove, we got shit done.

"I don't trust him," he growled out quietly, mindfully aware of the newbies behind us. Luckily for me, Heero had huge problems with people who didn't set a good example around the new recruits, so he wouldn't make too big of a scene. On the other hand, I had no problem making a scene where ever I was, something I knew bothered Heero to pieces. Something I'm slightly ashamed to say I've often abused.

"Well, that doesn't really matter to me. Now if you'll excuse me we have a shuttle to catch."

I began walking away only to be ripped back around by Heero. He grabbed both my shoulders, leaning down to look at me eye to eye. "You are not going," he said dangerously, his eyes turning that nice bright blue color they got when he was really mad about something.

I glared back at him. "It's none of your business, Yuy." Lifting both my arms, I broke the hold he had on my shoulders and began walking again. I should have known he wasn't going to give up so easily.

"Listen, 02," He growled, clamping his hand down on my arm. "I don't recall when being concerned for your partner's safety became an act of betrayal."

"This isn't Operation Meteor, Yuy." I snorted, beginning to claw at the arm holding me in place. He always pulled that 02 crap when I was doing something he didn't approve of. He must think of it as his own sick little way of pulling rank. "Believe it or not, I don't need my partner to decide who I can and can not trust."

Gritting my teeth, I became increasingly frustrated with my inability to get Heero's hand off me, not that it was much of a surprise. After all, he could bend steel with his bare hands at fifteen. But that was fine with me, Heero could resort to his brute strength all he wanted to. I learned how to deal with assholes like that when I was a kid on L2. "You let go of me right now, or I'm going to bite you," I warned.

"Well, I don't need a partner who thinks it's okay to leave this on my desk!" He roughly released my arm and threw a small post it note at me.

Catching it out of mere habit, I smirked as I looked down at it. I must admit, it was one of my more creative explanations. I realized right off the bat that if I had told Heero about the mission before it was supposed to happen, he'd find a way to convince Une to send some other agent. But I also knew if I just took off without telling Heero anything, he'd hunt me down and kill me. I thought the note was a healthy medium. **Heero, went on low risk mission with Zechs to train newbies, be back in 3 days. **

"Oh come on, Heero. It wasn't that bad of a note," I couldn't get it out without a little smile appearing on my face. It was that bad. It was even worse than bad. But that didn't mean I hadn't found it incredibly amusing. The note would have worked out perfectly if Heero hadn't cut me off on the way to the shuttle.

The glare Heero gave me and the rest of my team could have made Satan quiver in his red little booties. I remembered the first time I had ever seen that glare, it terrified me too, but luckily for me I was armed and loaded at the time. I swear the newbies must have stepped back at least three steps before they felt relatively safe again.

I crossed my arms across my chest and stared right into his glaring eyes. I've been on the wrong side of this glare many times, knowing full well what it meant. But I also knew Heero would never seriously hurt me while there were new recruits around. Granted, if we were alone, I probably wouldn't be provoking him as much as I was. Heero had filled out quite a bit more than I had. He'd ended up at about 5'11, while I only made it to 5'8 before I stopped growing. Consequently, Heero could pummel me even more efficiently than he could back during the war, if he could catch me that is.

He glared down at me for about a minute before realizing he wouldn't get any kind of response from me.

I smiled, this was when he gave up, sighed and walked away. I'd been in this situation before and it always ended in the same way. Heero would yell and threaten me, I'd make some stupid joke, he'd yell some more, I'd ignore it, then he'd get bored, call me a baka and go about his business.

This went all perfectly according to plan, he sighed, and then walked... past me?

"One of you tell me where this mission is," he snarled at my troops, pacing back and forth in front of them. I let out a strangled gasp, and grabbed his arm, forcing him to face me.

"You leave my troops out of this you..." I was so angry I couldn't even finish my sentence, I just stared at him in utter fury. He glared right back at me, completely unfazed by my anger. There were certain things that you just didn't do in the field, and bringing the newbies into it was one of them. They were just at that awkward point where they were starting to be completely loyal to their leader but didn't know what to do when they were asked something by another ranking officer.

"It's stationed on L2, sir," came a mousy reply, making both our heads snap towards my troops. Heero nodded.

"Thank you," he said curtly, giving me a dark smirk.

I glared at the little man who had dared squeal on me. "You are so off my team," I growled out, resisting the urge to pummel him into the nearest wall.

"That's fine, you can join my recruits," Heero stated, like it wasn't an attempt to undermine my authority in the lowest possible manner. "We're higher ranked anyway," he shot me a dirty smile and began walking away.

I gasped and yelled after him. "By like 5 fucking points you jerk!"

"Duo, are you okay?" I turned towards the new voice and smiled when I saw Heero freeze in his steps.

"Yeah, Zechs, I'm fine," I smiled reaching up and giving Zechs a light hug, lingering long enough to make sure that jerk Yuy saw it.

"Is that Yuy?" he asked, giving my shoulder a squeeze, before turning to address our team.

"Why, yes it is. He took it upon himself to turn one of our recruits," I said haughtily.

Zechs raised his eyebrow. "He what?"

Neither of us noticed Heero stalking up to us, until he viciously gripped my arm, pulling me away from Zechs.

"If anything happens to him, I'm holding you responsible," he growled out. Heero came nearly eye to eye with Zechs now, something he was very thankful for. When we first arrived here, Heero was about 5'7 and had to glare up at Zechs. It was actually kind of cute to watch.

Zechs sighed next to me. "When are you going to learn to trust me, Yuy?"

Heero glared, opening his mouth to say something. Luckily I was quick enough throw my hand over his mouth. "Now, Yuy," I chuckled nervously. "The recruits are right there," I mumbled, just loud enough so that he could hear me.

"It didn't seem to bother you before," he said shortly, pushing me away from him and shooting one last death glare at Zechs before he walked away.

I smirked after his departing body, it was painfully obvious that I'd won for now.

"Maxwell, just what did you say to him?" Zechs asked me, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I laughed, turning towards our recruits. "Why don't you all tell the Captain what you've learned about Captain Yuy."

At first no one raised their hand. They all looked kind of nervous actually. But I supposed that I couldn't blame them. After all, I've heard of some agents who'd wet themselves after coming encountered with an angry Heero. "I'm serious," I assured them.

One tentative scout raised his hand. "Williams," I called, pointing to him.

"Sir, Captain Yuy does not like it when he is not informed about missions," He remarked quickly, before falling back among the recruits.

"Very good!" I exclaimed, turning towards Zechs with a smile. He shook his head at me.

"You should know better than to taunt, Yuy," he said disapprovingly.

I smiled, placing my hands behind my head. "I'm still around aren't I?"

"Who knows for how much longer after this," he mumbled, walking past me down the shuttle corridor. I glared at the taller man walking our recruits down the hall.

I lightly jogged past the newbies so I was walking next to Zechs again. "What's that supposed to mean?"

I heard him let out a sigh. "You know you can't torture Yuy forever, don't you?" He asked, turning his head slightly so that we could look at each other briefly.

"Like hell I can't," I said with a bright smile, entering my pin code into the door leading to the shuttle.

See, the fact of the matter was that I could continue to torture Heero forever, or at least until one of us got killed on the job. Or killed each other. That's just always how it's been with Heero and I. I torment him, he gets all omae o korosu-y, and then never follows through. Torment was the whole underlying basis for our friendship. I knew how to push his buttons, and he knew how to push mine right back.

The door opened with a delightful swishing sound. I loved the sound of any pressurized thing being opened.

When the door was secure, I turned around to face the recruits. "We'll be getting on the shuttle now," I hated giving these damn talks but it was necessary for those who'd never flown. "Find your seats and lock down fast. I've gotten one of these things off the ground in a matter of minutes so you'll be in good hands." I wasn't kidding either. There had been numerous times in the war, especially when I was working with Heero, where it was lift off or get left behind.

We did a head count as each recruit walked through the door to the shuttle. Nine men.

"We're missing one," Zechs stated, looking down the hall.

I rolled my eyes. "No we aren't. I told you Yuy turned one of them," I reminded him, patting him on the shoulder before leaning down to enter the shuttle.

"You were serious?" He called after me.

I smiled as I plopped myself down in the pilot seat, fastening myself up. "I never lie, Zechs. You should know that."

He smiled at me as he sat down, and began strapping himself in as well. "You're right, I should know that."

"Damn straight," I responded, putting my head set on. "Mama Bear, this is baby bear requesting immediate lift off for mission 1357. Please respond."

A crackling came over the headsets, followed by a large laugh. "Good morning, Agent Maxwell, and how are you this fine morning?"

"I'll be a lot better once I get some clearance," I laughed out. One thing that's very important to remember about shuttle personal, the nicer you are to them, the faster they give you clearance.

"Let me look you up here," the deep voice responded.

"Thanks a bunch, pal," I smiled at Zechs. "Now all we do is wait." Leaning back I put my hands behind my head and crossed my legs out in front of me.

"Agent Maxwell, our logs say this mission has been cancelled."

My eyes automatically set themselves into death glare mode. I'm not saying at that exact moment I really wanted to kill Heero, but I can't honestly say that I didn't want something incredibly heavy to fall on him. Not to kill him of course, just incapacitate him for a few months.

"It's been what?" I growled out, leaning forward closer to the control panel. Sure enough it had been turned off.

"Sorry, kid," The man said before he cut transmission. I heard Zechs sigh next to me, and the sound of his headset falling onto the control panel.

I tried to remain calm through all this. I tried to stay calm listening to Zechs making the announcement, and watching my team climb disappointedly down the shuttle steps. It must have been the shock of the situation that kept me calm as long as I was. I was calm getting off the shuttle, and calm walking down the halls to Une's office. I was truly calm, running on complete auto- pilot, with only my objective in mind.

The door made a satisfying crack when my foot slammed into it, causing it to nearly break off it's hinges.

Une sat behind her desk, her hands folded on it's surface, staring calmly at the traitor sitting in the chair in front of her.

"You do realize, Agent Maxwell," she began, her lips pursed. "That my door has a knob for a reason."

"Get out, Heero," I growled out, clenching my fists at my sides.

"I do believe I called this meeting, Duo. I don't recall inviting you," he kept his voice calm, which infuriated me all the more.

"I mean it, Heero," I warned, spinning his chair around and gripping both arm rests with my hands. "I've shot you before and I'll do it again."

Heero raised his eyebrow at me before tilting his head towards Une. "I do believe I'm feeling threatened in the work place, Une."

"You're about to be more than threatened," I whispered, picking up a nearby pen.

"Both of you stop this!" Both our heads snapped towards Une when she slammed her hand down on the mahogany desk. "Sit," she growled, pointing to me with her long finger.

I was so scared I almost took a seat on Heero's lap because it was closer than the other chair. I'd never admit this to anyone, but Une still scared the shit out of me. I glared at Heero from my new seat. He knew I was terrified of Une, and that's probably the real reason he came running to her.

"I want both of you to tell me exactly what it is you want, one at a time, so that I can come to a decision," she said calmly, once again folding her hands on her desk. "Maxwell," she snapped out, making me jump and turn my head completely towards her.

"Yes?"

"What do you want," she spoke slowly, leaning her head towards me like a poisonous snake might do before it struck.

Clearing my throat, I rolled my chair close to her desk, setting a hand on it's surface. "I want you to fire Heero." My head automatically snapped around when I heard Heero snort. "It'd be a real quick fix," I added.

Une nodded towards me, turning her attention to Heero. "Yuy?"

"I want to be informed when my partner plans to go on a mission without me," Heero said stiffly. I almost felt like gagging, like she'd ever agree to something as stupid as that.

"Done," she said with a smile, picking up a few pieces of paper and handing them to Heero.

I stared wide eyed with my mouth hanging open like a fish. "Are you serious?" I cried, jumping out of my chair, slamming both hands down on Une's desk. "You aren't even going to consider my proposal?!"

Une set her hands on her desk, slowly standing, glaring at me the whole time. I shivered, and let out an anxious chuckle. "Not that I'm questioning your decision or anything." Putting my hands up in the air I began backing away from her, grabbing Heero's arm on my way to the door.

"Well, uh," I stuttered, trying hard not to look at the devilish look in her eyes. "Thanks, Lady Une, keep up the good work!"

When I finally made it out of her office I let out a long sigh of relief before turning to glare at Heero, standing next to me with his arms crossed, and staring at me with that damn smirk.

"I believe the term is," he began, placing a finger under his chin as though he was in deep thought. "Owned?"

I'm sure no one expected the strangled cry that erupted from me before I launched myself at Heero, only to be grabbed around the middle in mid- pounce.

"Let me go, Trowa!" I yelled, frantically waving my arms through the air. My vision turned a darker shade of red with each swipe of the air that came up short from grabbing Heero.

"Damn, Zechs told us you got him riled up," I heard Trowa get out as he hauled me further away from my prey.

Heero merely shrugged and began walking the other direction, his hands in both pockets.

I continued my struggle until Heero was out sight, and Trowa released me. I turned my death glare towards him, before viciously stomping on his foot and stalking off in the direction of Heero and I's office. The cry that erupted from him as I walked away only improved my mood by a fraction.

I swear people literally ran to get out of my way when they saw me coming down the hall. Preventers staff knew that the only other person that was more scary than Heero angry, was me when I was on the warpath.

When I finally reached our offices I saw that the door was wide open. I was slightly disappointed, kicking our door in would have probably felt as good as when it was Une's door.

"I'm not going to fight with you, Duo," he said sharply, not even looking up from his laptop.

I scoffed in response, it would figure. Heero was too good to engage himself in a petty spat.

Pulling out my roller chair I plopped myself down it, setting my feet on my desk and glaring at Heero, sitting across from me. I stared at him, waiting for him to look up at me, but he never did. Not really surprising. Whenever there was a choice between me and that damn laptop it didn't take a genius to figure out which one he'd pick. I sighed, putting my arms behind my head. I've had quite a few fantasies of destroying that laptop.

But it was probably about a fourth into the war when I realized I didn't really have to destroy the laptop. It was merely a matter of bugging Heero enough that he'd be so annoyed that he couldn't concentrate. I like to think I've become an expert at this over the years.

I pressed my foot against my desk, leaning back in my chair so it made a delicious squeaking sound. The slight pause in the clanking of keys told me I had found my revenge.

Smiling, I leaned back again, this time slower, making a long drawn out squeak. When I saw Heero's eyebrow twitch I nearly quivered in delight. I leaned back again, this time quickly and repetitively, creating my own little squeaking symphony, accented by Heero's stalled typing and facial twitch.

I continued making my music until I was roughly shaken from my thoughts by Heero grabbing the back of my chair, glaring down at me. I hadn't even noticed he had moved.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said sweetly, flashing him a big toothy smile. "Do you not like it when I interfere with your work?" I fluttered my eyelashes for good measure, watching his lips purse as though he was ready to say something.

"I did what I did because I was concerned about you," he said haughtily, his death glare burning itself into me. "You're just doing this to be malicious." Pushing down on the back of my chair, he sent me tumbling to the floor before heading back towards his desk.

"Jerk," I mumbled, using the edge of my desk to pull myself back into my chair. It made me sick, he was right back to typing. One thing about Heero; he is not easily faltered. I leaned back in my chair quickly, making a high, quick squeak similar to the sound a mouse would make right before it's back gets broken in a trap.

No sooner had I thought these words, Heero hurled his pad of post it notes across our desks, hitting me square in between the eyes.

"Oh that's it!" I cried, hurling the post its back at him, which he dodged of course.

I stalked over to him and spun his chair so he faced me. "I have five fucking words for you, Yuy," I began. "If I had my gundam!" I yelled in his face, getting louder with each passing syllable.

Heero raised an eyebrow, placing a finger in between my eyes. "You'd what? Scratch Wing with it?" He asked, giving my head a firm shove.

I wanted to say something but the words just wouldn't come out of my mouth. When the hell had Heero picked up the ability to render me speechless? Where was my come back when I so desperately needed it to wipe that damn smirk off Heero's face? I've always been able to dish out a snappy come back, but today all I was able to do was stare wide eyed, with my mouth hung open, and pray for something insulting to fall out.

Slowly, but surely, I was realizing what was happening before my very eyes. I, Duo Maxwell, was being burned by no personality, no sense of humor, completely emotionless, Heero Yuy. No way. No fucking way.

I must have stared at him for a solid minute before either of us moved. It was too late to say anything in response, and he wouldn't care if I stormed out, I did that enough as it was.

I frantically searched my brain for something to say, anything to say. I wasn't even searching for a comeback anymore. I just needed something to make that damn smirk get off his face.

I started scanning the room, looking for any source of inspiration I could find. And that's when I saw it. See, Heero has this thing about staplers. He can get incredibly frustrated with the standard issue stapler that Preventers gave every employee for their desk. Apparently, when you needed to staple a report that was more than six pages, the staple from the standard issue stapler did not lay down flush with the page. It drove Heero absolutely insane. It drove him so crazy he actually brought in his own stapler that was up to "the standards of true workers."

Ripping the stapler off the desk, I grabbed Heero's tie and slammed it to the surface, slamming the stapler into it three times before stomping out.

Immature? Maybe, but frankly I could give a rats ass at this point. I was supposed to be on my way to L2 right now, raking in some major points for my recruit team and where was I? Hiding behind Trowa at the water cooler because I realized I had just destroyed Heero's favorite tie. It's been a really shitty day.

"You brought this on yourself, you know," Trowa said, taking a sip of his water.

I leaned back against the wall and let out a sigh. "I know. But he started it."

I didn't see Heero for the rest of the day. I'm actually kind of sad to say that I mostly sulked around, wading waist high in my own little pool of self doubt.

I've always had a problem with my temper, and Yuy going around messing up all my plans for the rest of the week didn't help it any. I sighed on the way to my car, dreading the next week of work. I'd probably get stuck doing a thousand pounds of paper work.

At first I didn't see him. I was too preoccupied with trying to find my keys to see him standing next to my car door. He let out a little cough and I nearly jumped out of my skin.

"Jesus, Yuy!" I exclaimed, putting a hand to my chest. "Trying to give me a heart attack too?"

He didn't answer. He just stared at me for a while before reaching into his pocket and pulling out what was left of his tie. Silently, he laid it on the hood of my car and began walking away.

Damn it, I thought to myself, why does he always know how to make me feel terrible. I grabbed the tie and jogged a little past him, stopping him in his tracks.

"If you have something to say to me, say it," I said sharply, thrusting the tie back at him.

He held it almost delicately in his hand, looking down at the torn cloth. "This was my favorite tie," he said simply, almost a little quietly. "You gave me this tie."

I crossed my arms across my chest, turning my head away from him. So what if I had given it to him? And so what if he did wear it five times a week. He deserved it! He deliberately ruined my mission and for what? Points? Pride? I have no idea because he never tells me anything. He just goes and does it whether or not it will do anyone any good.

"It's been..." he started, looking kind of confused. "Hard, for me since you started taking missions with other people."

I uncrossed my arms and turned to look at him. I'm probably one of the only people in the world who has seen what Heero looks like when we're feeling vulnerable, and I'd never seen him look quite so vulnerable as he did at that moment. He stood with his hands in his pockets, looking down at his shoes wearing a discontented look on his face.

"I only trust you to be my partner. Forgive me if it's hard to admit that you can be partners with anyone you want."

I was at such a loss for words that I just stared at him as he turned and walked to his car. That was the second time Heero had rendered me speechless today, but this time I wasn't just looking for an insult. This time I just couldn't find an apology.

--------------

A.N. Well, I had the idea for this a long time ago and decided to finally write it down. I hope you liked it! I wasn't sure how the Duo POV was going to turn out. Anyway this will be a multi- part Heero and Duo get together fic, because everyone needs one, and will probably be a lot more action packed than Japan Air. Also, I'm not quite sure if I like the summary for this, so, if anyone has suggestions for one just drop me a line.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Stand Still**

**By: SukiNora**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own them, I just like to play with them.**

**Pairings: 1+2, 3X4, 5x? **

**Warnings: Heero POV**

**Chapter 2**

**------------------------------**

I could never understand why Duo had to be so difficult all the time. It seemed almost like he felt he had to be difficult in order to fulfill some unknown purpose. For as long as I've known him he's always been getting into unnecessary trouble, or making some simple situation difficult when, really, there was absolutely no need for it in the first place.

For example, there was absolutely no reason for Duo to go on a mission with Zechs. I was his partner, and had been through two wars and four years at a job where we risked our lives every other week. We worked perfect together. So why did he feel the need to branch out and work with other people?

That question had plagued my mind ever since he began planning missions without me, and started asking Wufei or Trowa for help with his paperwork when I was right across from him at our desks. It's like I said, Duo always has to make things more complicated than they need to be.

Maybe it was because Duo himself is very complicated. I've never been able to figure him out. Sure I've unlocked a few pieces of the puzzle, but for the most part I have no idea what is going on in his tiny little head.

For instance, I'm probably one of the only people in the world who knows that Duo actually hates Relena. I'm even willing to bet my entire loot from Romefeller that if he could travel back in time, and stop himself from preventing me from killing her, he'd do it with that cheerful grin of his plastered across his face.

It was strange at first, seeing the slight variations of how he addressed her at parties and such. He was always pleasant and cheerful, but there was always a little bite to what he had to say. Something you wouldn't really think twice about unless you were looking for it. There was just something he didn't like about her.

The whole glory of the situation was that because I knew, I could use this in my plan for revenge. Granted, I didn't think of it as revenge at the time, but I certainly do now.

It had been nearly a week since Duo and I had our fight over his mission with the recruits and Zechs. It had passed in stony silence, with no apologies or explanations. Only the absolute necessary communication past between us, and it usually involved something like borrowing a pen.

On the second day of silence, I started my own retaliation against Duo.

"Heero, are you ready to go?" I looked up from my laptop to see the retaliation standing in the doorway to Duo and I's office.

"Yes, Relena, just give me one minute." I hadn't really needed the extra minute, but I wanted to be sure Duo got a good look at who I was going to lunch with.

"Wow, your a long way from home your majesty." When I heard the distaste oozing from his every word a distinct feeling of accomplishment washed over me.

Relena, of course, missed it completely. "I am! But it's not everyday I get a call from the famous Heero Yuy asking to take me to lunch."

His head snapped towards me when he learned that I had been the one to initiate the lunch date, the look of complete shock was utterly satisfying.

"Y- you asked to go out with her?" I smiled as he stumbled over his words. I can tell he's at a complete loss, which is exactly what I had planned, which is why I had put my stapler in my desk a few moments ago.

After shutting my laptop I stood from my desk, walking towards Relena. I nodded, putting my arm around her, and flashing Duo the biggest smile I could without hurting myself.

"I thought a little change in company might be nice." I was so tempted to throw at a wink at him after his mouth dropped open it nearly killed me not to. But if I had he would have known the whole thing was just a means for pay back.

Duo and I always ate lunch together. We have every single day since we worked together at Preventers. That's what gave me the idea.

Well, I wont lie to you, it wasn't easy sitting across from Relena watching her mouth move but not really hearing anything that came out of it. I kept drifting back to Duo. Wondering what he was doing, how he was doing, and did I make him jealous enough to stop the feud growing between us.

I nearly grimaced after we ordered our food and began the arduous waiting period. I'm not particularly fond of Relena either, especially when all she has to talk about is how to increase a budget for something I don't really care about. Granted, I do respect her, but I can't honestly say that if I was given the opportunity to go back in time with Duo, knowing her like I do now, that I wouldn't have shot her. Not to kill of course. Maybe just to nick her a bit...

I ate lunch with her for three straight days, watching Duo grow ever more hostile towards her and moody during the day when I returned. It was the most fabulous and invigorating experience of my life. Sure, the lunches were complete torture, but for the first time in my friendship with Duo I found myself at the advantage, and that was worth any torture Relena could bring upon me. I had him pulling his hair out for a change. For once, he was the one with the attitude problem, not me.

Everyone started noticing how moody he was getting, especially around lunch time.

"You realize you're slowly killing him," Wufei asked me, sipping his coffee as we stared into Duo and I's office, watching him stab his desk repetitively with his pen. I smiled, it was almost noon.

"I'm just branching out," I defended, draining the last of my cup and setting it down on the counter.

"You know he came into our office yesterday when you were at lunch and asked us if he smelled bad." I raised my eyebrow.

"Smelled bad?"

Wufei glared at me. "Yes."

I shrugged. "He doesn't smell bad."

"I know that!" He replied angrily, slamming his hand down on the counter, scaring a few interns walking by.

He almost seemed astonished at his own reaction. He took his hand off the counter and ran it through his hair with a sigh. "Just promise you wont take this too far."

I nodded. "To the end of the week."

While walking back to our office, I wondered if I should feel slightly ashamed for taking so much pleasure in Duo's pain. Obviously it was bothering my other friends, but they hadn't been betrayed by Duo like I had. After much debate I realized I shouldn't feel too bad about it. He had been doing the same thing to me, so it couldn't be that bad.

I kept my eyes to the floor, watching my feet as I picked them up one by one, each step bringing me closer to our office. I shouldn't feel bad, I assured myself. Revenge is a dish best served cold.

My eyes widened as I felt myself being jerked into the office by my tie, hearing the door slamming behind me as I was viciously shoved.

"Why are you doing this?!" I leaned myself back against our desks after I caught my balance. Wiping myself off, I stared at Duo, fuming in front of me, his fists clenched at his sides. I could tell he'd been messing with his hair, probably pulling at it by the looks of his braid, as parts where sticking up and others completely loose.

"This is where I work, Duo. I have to come back after I take my coffee break," I replied smugly, leaning back against my desk, enjoying the distressed look that appeared on his face.

"Are you serious?" He replied incredulously, his eyes nearly bugging out of his head. "I'm talking about Relena! Why are you spending so much time with her!?"

I merely shrugged, knowing that if I remained calm it would bother him all the more. "She's grown on me."

At that moment we both turned our heads as the door was slightly opened and Relena poked her head in.

"Heero?" She called, leaning in further to look around.

"You're not stealing my best friend from me you bitch!"

My head snapped away from the door back to Duo. He looks just as shocked as I am about his outburst. His eyes were wide and his face started turning a bright red color resembling a ripe tomato.

"I mean... I..." For a moment I think he's about to faint.

"Relena," I began, taking a deep breath of air. "Just give me a second."

She nods, the pain of Duo's remark showing on her face, and closes the door behind her. I nearly groan. She's probably going to cry all through lunch.

I was shaken from my self pity when Duo plopped back down into his chair, propping his elbows on his knees and burying his face in his hands. "I didn't mean to say that," he mumbled.

I could tell by the way he was acting that this was going to be one of those times when I would receive no eye contact from Duo. He always got this way when he felt truly guilty about something. He told me during the war that he had a no lie policy on life, but that he has no problem with hiding and running away. That's one thing I've certainly learned to be true, and if Duo Maxwell thought his eyes were going to give away something, then he'd keep them closed forever to save face.

"But you did," I pointed out, sitting on the edge of my desk.

He let out a long sigh and ran his hand through his bangs. His lips opened and closed as though he was going to say something, but then thought better of it. "I just want to know why," he said quietly, studying the coffee stain on our carpet left from last april fools day when he came in wearing a bald cap.

"Why do you have to partner with Zechs?" I asked bluntly. "Or anyone else for that matter?"

"Well, why do you have to have lunch with Relena?!" He shot back harshly.

"Because I know you hate her."

"Well, I know you hate Zechs too," he says, crossing his arms against his chest as though he's finally found the comeback he's been searching for all week.

I tilt my head to the side. "Exactly why should I feel sorry for you?" I asked, watching his proud look fall apart.

"Just tell me why you're eating lunch with Relena!" He screamed, jumping up and kicking his desk, making a few papers scatter off the surface.

"Why do you have to partner with Zechs?" He glared at me, plopping back down into his desk chair, averting his gaze.

"Why? Jealous?" He asked quietly, almost sarcastically.

"Immensely," I replied sharply, standing from my sitting position to lean down in front of him. "But not enough to tell that bitch Zechs not to steal my best friend."

I had no idea Duo's face could grow as red as it did just then. All the blood in his entire body looked as though it decided to take up camp in his cheeks. "I'm sorry, Heero," he mumbled. "So this was just about me getting a taste of my own medicine?"

"Was it bitter?"

"Worse than robitussin." I cringed as the memories of the first time I'd encountered that vile medicine came rushing back to me. It was all Duo's fault, like most other things that go wrong in my life.

The first thing you need to realize about Duo when you go on a mission with him, is that he's very stubborn. I can admit that I'm a stubborn person, but my stubbornness doesn't hold a candle to Duo's. The worst part about it is that he'd the kind of person who doesn't know he's as stubborn as he is. Anything he refuses to do he can justify, which gets quite bothersome.

It was the first time we'd taken our recruits out on a survival weekend. It was simple, you got a knife, a lighter, and an eight foot rope and you had to find food, make shelter, and not get caught by the opposing team, in this case, it was Wufei and Trowa's recruits. The weekend is mainly to show the new recruits how with team work you can prevail under high stress, low supply situations. As they excel, you take them on more weekends and give them less supplies with the same objective.

The agents who take the recruits on the weekend survival are there merely to make sure no one gets killed, and to see which recruits show more promise than others. So there we were, perched on top of a hill in tents while the rain kept pouring down on us.

That leads me to the real reason I had my run in with robitussin. Socks. Specifically, Duo's socks.

The water had seeped completely through his boots and efficiently soaking his feet, yet he refused to change his socks. He was "fine," as he put it. But after a weekend of having cold wet feet, Duo got sick.

And of course didn't come into work for a week, leaving a ton of paperwork that was pilling up to unnaturally high levels on his desk. I decided that I'd take them to him, since I feared they might eventually fall and trap me underneath them.

I remember exactly how it went. When I first entered his apartment with the spare key, I was completely consumed in a humid environment, rich in menthol. When I found Duo, he was laying in a pile of what looked to be mucus. Duo hadn't been taking any medicine, that was obvious, and after searching through all his cabinets it was also obvious he didn't own any.

After a short trip to the drug store, I returned with a bottle of something that seemed to promise everything except picking up dirty tissues The only problem was that Duo refused to take any of it. In the end, half the bottle was spilled all over his floor and bed and he convinced me to try some of it first.

I did not make Duo drink any of it.

Ever since then, whenever we had to compare something horrible to something else, we compared it to robitussin.

By this time I was cringing at the memory of the vile liquid, but I was glad to be reminded of it. I've had many life altering experiences. I've been mere inches from death, and had to make many split second decisions that would save or destroy thousands of lives. But when that memory came back to me, I realized something.

"Move in with me," I blurted out.

I didn't want to lose him.

His expression turned from one of utter shock to a toothy grin before he wrapped his arms around my neck.

"Okay!"

A.N. Well that's it, I know it was shorter but I didn't want to go too far until I decide on the POV's. I'm not sure which one I like writing better (or which one I write better for that matter), but I'm leaning towards Duo. I dunno. The next chapter will be much longer. Happy reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**The Stand Still**

**By: SukiNora**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own them, I just like to play with them.**

**Pairings: 1+2, 3X4, 5x? **

**Chapter 3**

**A.N. I deleted this chapter because I finally had an idea how to end it, if you've already read the first part just skip to the bottom.**

**------------------------------**

Not for the first time in the past week, I craned my neck to see around the corner from the bathroom, searching for any signs that would show Duo still being awake. When I deemed it safe, I let out a sigh of relief and clutched my towel to my waist with the strength of a kung foo master as I inched along the wall to my bedroom. Duo had been living with me for a week now, and I spent each second of it in a paranoid state. I realized within the first day that I'd be doomed to look around corners in my own home for as long as Duo remained with me.

But it wasn't as though I regretted my decision. I loved being able to see Duo every moment of the day, especially since I had my epiphany in the office six days ago. Not to mention the fact that I doubt Relena will ever be able to look Duo in the face again, and that always puts a smile on my face.

When I finally reached the safety of my bedroom I sprinted quickly into it and shut the door behind me.

"Are you avoiding me?"

I clutched the door knob tight in my hand, silently praying that I had imagined the voice.

"Well?" The voice came again.

I let out a deep sigh, releasing the door knob and turning around. Duo was sitting in the middle of my bed in his boxers wearing a very grim expression.

"I'm not avoiding you," I said stiffly, clutching my towel a fraction tighter. "Now get out."

I couldn't help but smile as he let out a little chuckle before bounding off my bed. "Alright, but I'll be back," he laughed out, flinging my door back open and running across the hall to his room, slamming the door behind him.

Laughing softly, I re- closed my door and pushed the lock in. Living with Duo had definitely made things interesting. I've never had to lock a door in my apartment for the entire four years I've lived here. Now, all I do is wonder if I forgot to lock the door to the bathroom when I'm in the shower. Duo has no idea what privacy means. And I truly mean that.

He has no problem walking to his bedroom naked after a shower, he says his hair ranks higher in towel priority than his penis, and he has no problem walking into the bathroom while I'm in the shower if he needs something in there. That was something I was not expecting, which is why I'm wearing a band aide above my left eyebrow.

It was his first night here, and he was still getting situated, which basically means that he was going through all my stuff while I was in the shower. I was just getting the shampoo washed out of my hair when the shower curtain was ripped to the side. I let out a yelp and flung myself against the side wall, old war habits die hard I guess, but I slipped and hit my head on the soap stand.

He leaned over me, holding a bottle of my pills in his hands. "What are you taking a prescription drug for?"

Ever since then I've been incredibly paranoid. I'd forgotten how stealthy Duo can be when he wants to go unnoticed, obviously stealthy enough to get into the bathroom while I was in it without my knowledge, and being reminded of that frightened me. There are certain things I like to keep private. Certain things I wanted to be sure that only I know about. And ever since Duo's been here he's slowly finding out all of them.

I did not want Duo to find the bag of mint milanos I have in the cabinet above my refrigerator, but he did anyway. I did not want Duo to find out that I own a copy of The Notebook, but he did anyway. And I certainly did not want Duo to find my journal, but he did anyway, and read specific parts aloud at the office the day after.

I've become a paranoid wreck.

I shook my head and walked towards my bureau for my pajamas. I checked the lock on the door one more time for good measure before removing my towel and putting my flannel pajama pants on.

I plopped down on my bed, falling back into the covers when I heard footsteps running down the hall, and then a loud thud against my door followed by an "ow!"

I burst out laughing, curling onto myself. Living with Duo had certainly made things interesting. He certainly kept me on my toes. Before he lived here I went to bed at 10 p.m. sharp, now it's 1 a.m. and I'm just now getting out of the shower. A lot of good this baka has done me. I'm paranoid and sleep deprived. I honestly don't know how he stays so perky during the day.

It only takes him a minute to pick the lock and before I know it, there's a skinny twerp flying through the air and landing on my bed next to me with the force of Shamu.

"Pajama party?" He asked innocently, batting his eye lashes at me.

I sit up and can't help but smile. He's laying on his stomach with his face resting on his hands staring up at me with, I don't know, hope I suppose.

"I am not having a pajama party with you, Duo." I tried to sound like I meant business, but I can tell from the smirk breaking out on his face that he can sense weakness. Or he can smell fear, I don't know which, but both are relevant. "Don't you have work tomorrow?" I decided to try a different approach.

"Nope," he responded jovially, twirling his feet in the air.

Dammit, I thought to myself. I had tomorrow off as well, and that meant he could be in here for as long as he saw fit with no repercussions from the following work day. I tried hard to think of another excuse to get him out of my room before I realized... "Wait, yes you do."

"I'm sick," He groaned, bringing his fist towards his mouth and coughing into it twice.

"Get out," I said bluntly, pointing my finger towards the door. "Or I'm calling Une to tell her you're faking."

We glared at each other for a good minute before he decided it wasn't worth the risk of me ratting him out to Une. Getting up from my bed he walked towards my door backwards, glaring at me the whole way. "If I leave right now can I stay home?" He asked, obviously not willing to leave until he got an answer.

"No, I'm going to tell her regardless."

He flew through the air again and landed once more on my bed, this time grabbing one of my pillows and holding it to his chest. "Well fuck that then, I'm staying."

I let out a long sigh as I reached over him and grabbed my other pillow, pushing him with one leg to the other side of the bed. I wasn't really surprised that he was in my room again. He'd practically been living in here ever since he moved into the apartment, not to mention sleeping in bed with me.

Throwing my pillow to my side of the bed, I flung my feet to the floor and stood, heading back towards the hallway.

"Where are you going?" He asked, sleepily, craning his neck to see over his shoulder. When he put his mind to it he could be asleep within seconds, all of the pilots could. In war, you had to sleep whenever possible, and sometimes you didn't have the luxury of being slowly lulled to sleep.

"Bathroom," I muttered, closing the door behind me.

I stood with my ear pressed against the door for several seconds before I heard the tell tale sounds of Duo getting comfortable in bed. Only then did I begin to make my way into the bathroom.

Shutting the door behind me and making sure it was locked, I sat down on the edge of the bathtub, rubbing my face in my hands. Living with Duo certainly kept me on my toes, and I vaguely wondered how long I could continue keeping secrets from him. Reaching under the toilet tank, I removed the item that I had been dying to have for the past three days. My contacts case.

That was one thing I wanted to be sure Duo never found out about, or anyone else. The only person who knows about it is Sally. During our annual physical she began noticing certain slips in my statistics, and started giving me eye exams regularly. Each time my vision seemed to be declining before finally, she said that if I didn't wear glasses or contacts my position as an agent could be compromised.

Unscrewing the caps to my contacts I reached into my eyes and plucked the little circles out of them. I let out a happy sigh. I've been wearing these contacts for three straight days, ever since Duo decided he was going to sleep in my room with me. Luckily, yesterday he had dinner with Quatre and that gave me enough time to properly hide my contacts as well as my thin, small, oval shaped glasses under the toilet tank. It was only a temporary spot before I came up with something better.

It wasn't like my eye sight was horrible. I could see perfectly well up to about five feet in front of me, but then, past that things begin to get blurry, something that's completely unacceptable for a Preventers agent, as well myself. I've been raised since day one to be the perfect solider, and now here I was, losing my perfection one eyeball at a time.

I replaced the contacts case under the tank and flushed the toilet, just so Duo wouldn't start getting suspicious, and washed my hands.

When I returned to my bedroom Duo was already under the covers, hugging my pillow to his chest with his mouth open slightly. I couldn't help but smile as I laid down next to him, turning off the light, amercing us in darkness with only the street lamps outside as a light source. I never thought living with someone could change how you viewed them so quickly. Well, how my view of them changed so quickly. Duo has always even since the war tried to share my bed. I think somehow just having someone next to him made him feel better about things. It had certainly made me feel better during the war, which is the only reason I tolerated it.

I laid facing him. His face was so peaceful that I felt compelled to stare, as though that face could disappear at any moment, which wasn't too far from the truth. And just like that, his eyes snapped open.

"Stop staring at me."

I snorted before placing my hand over his face and giving him a firm shove. "I wasn't staring at you," I muttered, turning myself onto my opposite side, trying to will myself to sleep.

He scoffed at me and purposefully bounced up and down on the bed for a while, seemingly trying to get comfortable.

He stirred most of the night, keeping me from sleep. It didn't really bother me though. With each small movement, each shift in weight, I was reminded that I wasn't alone, and that was worth any amount of lost sleep.

When the stirring became frantic, I flipped myself over, expecting to see Duo in the throws of a nightmare. I smiled. His tongue was hanging out, and his legs twitching madly. I couldn't help but think of him as cute, he must have been running in his sleep again. He's grown to have some very strange sleeping habits when he's in a safe place.

I woke up with Duo's foot in my face.

"God, Duo," i muttered, pushing his foot away from me. I blindly reached my arm out to my end table, reaching for my watch. 6: 07. "Wake up," I said with a yawn, smacking the lump I felt under the covers next to me. It moaned in response.

"You have to go to work," I tried, smacking the lump a little harder.

"I'm sick..." Came the mumbled response, and the lump seemed to contract into the center of the bed. I smiled a little against my will. Duo hated it when he had to work and I didn't.

"Maybe mentally," I said softly, pulling myself to sit up and position my foot against the lump. I gave it a swift kick, smiling as it plummeted to my bedroom floor.

"You're a horrible friend," Duo mumbled, grudgingly standing up and stretching his arms over his head with a look of utter discontent gracing his normally cheerful face, and his hair sticking out in all kinds of directions from his braid.

"You're a horrible employee," I shot back, sitting up against the wall, my legs still under the covers.

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered under his breath, scratching his head as he walked out of the room.

I stayed in bed until I was sure he had left the apartment. Wait five minutes after the shower, ten minutes to get dressed, one minute to realize he's late and run to his motor cycle. Perfect.

I flung my feet over the side of my bed and began Duo proofing the apartment. After two hours of hiding, carving, and re- plastering I was satisfied. I really had no idea how many things I wanted to keep secret, and thus the hiding process was actually a bit of a chore. As I sawed little holes into the bottoms of drawers I wondered, was this wrong? After all, Duo was living with me now, and that meant a certain level of trust had to be extended.

I had stopped numerous times in mid- saw to contemplate this thought, but eventually continued, deeming that Duo's sense of humor and need to tease justified my lack of faith in him.

I had been just sitting down to have a nice lemonade and relax for a while after my hard work, something I'd actually be able to do since the cause of my paranoia was at work, when the vid phone rang.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, I grudgingly stalked into the kitchen and viciously pushed the answer button.

"What," I dead panned, obviously not wanting to be disturbed. My expression softened when Wufei's concerned face popped up, but only a little bit.

"You might want to get down to HQ as soon as possible," he mumbled, avoiding eye contact, something he always did when he was hiding something.

I glared at his picture. "Why?" I questioned sourly.

"It's about Duo," he started, but I never heard the rest of his statement. My fist slammed against the disconnect button on my way out of the kitchen. I threw on my old sneakers and ran out of the apartment in a daze.

I went on autopilot, the drive was a blur in my mind, but I vaguely remember a ton of people honking and others switching lanes to avoid me. Acutally, I'm amazed I didn't get a ticket, not that it would have stopped me anyway.

When I finally made it to HQ I could barely register the shocked looks on people's faces as I, Heero Yuy, stormed into Preventers HQ wearing pajama bottoms. Just like on the road, people nearly jumped to get out of my way as I ran down the hall to Duo and my office.

Wufei was waiting at my desk. "Where is he," I growled, looking around our office.

He tilted his head to the left, motioning for me to follow him as he stood and walked from our office.

"I just want you to know, I called as soon as I found out about this," Wufei said. I could tell from his tone of voice that he had been yelling at someone recently, and because the call was about Duo I didn't really have to wonder who. While this bothered me, because I knew in a few moments I was most likely going to be angry as well, a feeling of relief flooded over me. At least he wasn't hurt. I was thankful until I realized where he was leading me, my glare deepening with each passing step.

We ended up at the shuttle bay, and I found myself staring at a shuttle seconds from departing. I found myself staring at a shuttle, piloted by Zechs Merquise and my new room mate.

"Goddamn-it," I muttered to myself, one of my fists clenched at my side, the other slamming in front of the bastard who gave Duo clearance.

I stared at Duo, making the finishing adjustments on his controls, and wondering how he could betray me this way. Didn't he see that I just wanted to keep him safe? And how was I supposed to do that when he ran off with the one person I hated most in the world. I wouldn't trust Zechs with a pet fruit fly let alone Duo.

Just before the shuttle took off, he looked back at shuttle dock, seeing me through the glass partition. His eyes went wide for a second, and I thought I caught a glimpse of remorse. He obviously hadn't expected to see me standing there.

Zechs put a hand on his shoulder, making his avert his gaze from me. I glared at the man sitting next to him as Duo turned back towards me. He looked from me to Zechs, and let out a small smile. I saw red. That little bastard winked at me.

Suddenly it all made sense. Agreeing to move in with me, not leaving me alone, wanting to sleep in my bed, and worst of all, pretending to want to stay home with me. He knew exactly what I would do, and he knew that if he got close enough to me I wouldn't kill him when he got back. Unfortunately for him, he was sorely mistaken.

"I'm sorry, Heero," Wufei said, glaring out at the shuttle as it took off, putting his hand on my shoulder.

"Not as sorry as he's going to be," I muttered, shrugging off his shoulder, giving the shuttle personal one last glare before I stormed out.

I stalked down the halls again, Wufei hot on my heels, trying to tell me something about over reacting. I've always felt like I've been a calm person, and I wasn't going to over react now.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing!" I screamed, slamming Une's door open so hard it nearly bounced back and hit Wufei in the face.

Une stared up wide eyed at me. "What?" She questioned, her face full on confusion.

"Why did you let him take that mission," I growled, setting my hands on her desk, crumpling the papers underneath them.

She sighed and rubbed a hand over her face. "There was nothing I could do. He's well within his bounds."

Wufei put his hand over my fist as I clenched it tightly. He probably thought I was going to hit her, which may not have been too far off.

"I want the mission report."

A.N. That's better ! Happy reading! New chapter of Japan Air will be up next!


	4. Chapter 4

**The Stand Still**

**By: SukiNora**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own them, I just like to play with them.**

**Pairings: 1+2, 3X4, 5x?**

**Chapter 4**

**A.N. I know what it's like to be waiting for something you want for a really long time. So I'm sorry to any of you who have plucked all your hairs out in anticipation.**

**------------------------------**

Duo POV

I did feel bad, honestly. Granted, I understood that it may have seemed like I didn't due to my farewell wink to Heero, but honestly, I just couldn't resist. Ever since I'd met Heero he liked to assert his power over me, and for once I felt like I was in the position of power, and I wasn't about to let go of that magnificent feeling for a second.

He'd screw me with Relena, I'd screw him with a low risk mission. An eye for an eye. It was completely reasonable.

"He's going to kill you," Zechs mumbled next to me, resting his forehead in the palm of his hand, probably trying to hide his face from Heero's glaring face. "And then he'll probably come after me."

I couldn't get the smirk off my face as I tilted my head to get a glimpse of my current partner.

"You're over exaggerating," I chuckled, reaching above my head to engage the shuttle path to L2, feeling the shuttle pick up speed as we retreated from the docking station and Heero's angry face.

Zechs glared over his shoulder at me. "I think we both know that's not true."

"Well," I started, continuing to prepare the shuttles systems for the journey. "Maybe not," I chuckled, imagining all the things Heero was probably breaking in the docking station control room.

"Yeah maybe," He muttered, crossing his arms as he glared down at the control panel.

"You're not going to get crabby on me too are you?" I asked as I leaned back into my chair, the slight hum of the engines making the chair vibrate under my body, a feeling I've always enjoyed. "You know we need to get these recruits trained in the field."

Zechs scoffed next to me. "I'm pretty sure crabby doesn't describe what Yuy is feeling right now."

I let out a little sigh, reaching out my arm and patting my taller partners shoulder twice. "He'll be fine, just don't worry about it."

"Easy for you to say," he said as he leaned his head back against the head rest. "He wouldn't actually shoot you."

My brow furrowed as I contemplated that last statement. "I'm not sure about that one." And I actually wasn't. There have actually been quite a few times that I've found Yuy's gun pointed between my eyes. Not to say I didn't deserve it of course. A soldier only has so many reactions when they're snuck up on.

"He wouldn't..." Zechs trailed off, turning his head away from me to examine something that must have been very interesting on the control panel. "Looks like we're good," he stated, reaching down to unbuckle himself from the restraints. "Do you want to come brief them?"

I shook my head. "No, you go ahead. I'm going to make sure things run smoothly for a while. Wouldn't want to have a shuttle malfunction on their first mission to the colonies."

He gave me a skeptical look as he floated towards the hatch that separated us from the recruits. He knew I was lying, but anyone who had ridden on a shuttle to a colony would know that. The technology had become so advanced that most shuttles didn't even need pilots anymore. It was okay. I just needed to be by myself for a while.

I crossed my arms and stared out into the dark void of space. We'd be to L2 soon. I let out a sigh and began to feel a slight headache coming on. What was I doing?

Heero really was going to kill me, and honestly, I don't think I could say I wouldn't do the same if I was in his position. I'd be lucky if he ever talked to me again.

"Maxwell."

He'd probably make me move out, and then what? I'd be homeless.

"Maxwell."

Maybe I could stay at Quatre's for a while.

"Maxwell!" I was startled from my thoughts by Zechs, floating near the door way.

"What?" I asked, shifting in my seat to look at him.

"We need the anticipated locations." Locations? Oh, right. Mission plans.

"I'll be right there," I responded, reaching down to unbuckle myself from my restraints. Zechs nodded, pushing himself back into the other room.

I let out a sigh and rubbed a hand over my face as I floated over to the brief case that I had strapped down in the personal affects corner of the cockpit.

The mission really was going to be simple. The annual L2 festival celebrating the end of the war would be going on for the duration of the weekend. Surprisingly it was the one time L2 really went all out. It was like Mardi Gras, attracting hundreds of people to L2 for a three day street party.

Unfortunately, with the increased population for the weekend, it had also become quite a holiday for the drug dealers of L2, as all of them knew that all the police on the colony would be on the street, ready to break up any drunken fights or riots that occurred.

That fact was the reason we were taking the newbies to L2. How do you get a trainee into the field with a guaranteed low risk mission? You bust a known drug deal with repeat offenders. And to make it even more of a low risk mission, you give them information given by a rat. A drug squealer. He gave it all. The day, time, and place the deal was going to go down. All we had to do was show up and bust.

When I finally found the documents I was seeking, I gave myself a firm push towards the doorway. I floated through it, the documents zipped in a plastic bag to make sure they weren't going anywhere.

"Got them?" Zechs asked, holding himself in place by holding onto one of the metal beams above the trainees, all strapped into their seats.

I nodded, carefully unzipping the bag and handing each recruit a copy of the same list of locations.

"These are the places the drug swap may happen," I said as I passed them out. "Anderson, how do you want to proceed?"

Anderson was my top recruit, and so Zechs and I gave him the title of squad leader. He was about 27 years old with a nearly shaved head and deep brown eyes. He stood about 5'10 with a well defined body.

He flipped through the locations with a look of determination. I smiled, he was probably completely aware about the fake locations we randomly put in with the real one. I could practically see him making the connections from the preliminary information and the locations. He was going to go far.

I'm not ashamed to say he was my favorite recruit. Even though he was older than me I almost considered him to be a son. He wasn't like one of the recruits who were bitter about being taught by a 21 year old. He soaked up everything he could with no sign of disrespect or resentment.

"We're going to focus on St. Jonas' Church, 1900 Grand Central Ave., and 346 Johnston Street," he decided, firm with his decisions.

I smiled. I knew he'd pick St. Jonas' first.

"We're going to split into groups of three, and we're going to scope out each area before we determine which location we'll all bust."

I looked at Zechs across the hull, his smile had grown almost as large as mine.

"Good," I stated, giving a slight nod. "Work out your teams. Zechs and I will be in the cockpit. Come up with a plan of action to give us before we dock."

Anderson nodded at me and began sizing up the eight recruits as Zechs and I floated back to the cockpit.

I pushed myself back to my chair, strapping myself back in. When I heard the sound of the door slam shut I looked over my shoulder to see Zechs heading for his chair.

"He's going to go far."

I smiled, closing my eyes. "I know."

Zechs and I sat in silence the remainder of the flight. He most likely contemplating all the ways Heero was going to kill him, and me contemplating the things I could say to make Heero not kill me. It was depressing that I couldn't really come up with anything.

After we docked in the L2 shuttle port I stared absentmindedly at my recruits as they filed off the shuttle.

"Captain?"

I was shaken from my trance and found myself staring into the concerned eyes of recruit Anderson.

"Are you alright, sir?" He questioned, his eyebrows furrowed with worry.

"I'm fine," I said, running my hand over my face. "Did you need something?"

Anderson looked towards the floor of the shuttle before nodding, as though he was ashamed to ask for help.

"There's still one location that's bothering me."

I raised an eyebrow. There wasn't anything that would really link the drug bust to any other location.

"This, 213 Grand Valley," he answered, pointing to the random address I planted on the paper. "There's just something about it."

I stared at the older man standing across from me. He was being sincere. I let out a sigh and took the paper from him.

"I'll tell you what," I began, sucking in a deep breath. "I can't say that I haven't gone by gut feelings, but I can guarantee you, this location is of no interest to you or the assignment."

He looked down to the paper and shook his head. "With all due respect," his voice began to choke as he looked up at me. "I just know," he nearly whispered.

I sighed, staring at the man who looked so intently at the location on the paper. As if he was trying to force the paper to expose information about the location.

I rested my hand upon his shoulder and gave a small squeeze. He looked up at me with wide eyes, his mouth slightly open. "I'll tell you what," I began, removing my hand from his shoulder and moving it to the back of my neck. "I'll check it out while you do your preliminary scoping. I'll meet you back at the motel."

The look of relief on the man's face was nearly overwhelming.

"Thank you," he said softly, giving me a slight nod before he walked through the shuttle door, leaving me in my tracks.

"No problem," I mumbled, following him suit.

Anderson was jogging over to the rest of the recruits as I climbed down the slight incline. They were clumped together like a group of worker ants harvesting a leaf. I chuckled to myself, imagining the sight I hoped to see in a few hours. My worker ants huddled around each other harvesting cocaine.

I loved it.

"That's a rather disturbing smile on your face," Zechs mumbled next to me, buckling on his bullet proof vest that also carried his gun, mace and badge.

I turned to him, flashing a toothy grin. "Oh, I'm so giddy," I replied, barely being able to wait for the look on Heero's face when my top recruit got moved to active field duty before his had even seen a day of field training.

"I take it you think things will go well?" He asked as he handed a vest to me that was identical to his.

I nodded. "I do, but I'm not going with the rest of you," I said, accepting the vest.

Zechs raised his eyebrow at me. "Going home to gloat? Already?"

I chuckled and shook my head, buckling the vest on at the sides. "No, Anderson has a gut feeling about one of the places on the list I gave him. I'm going to go check it out to ease his mind."

"You're actually going to go?" He asked incredulously, his eyes widening a bit. "Why?"

I shook a finger in his face. "You should know better, Zechs. I don't lie to anyone, about anything." Patting his face twice with my palm I began walking backwards through the crowd, waving to him as I navigated my way out of the shuttle gate. "It'll be an hour deal, then I'll meet up with you all, ok?" I called to him.

Zechs gave me an exasperated look but waved me off as he walked towards our recruits.

I smirked as I turned around, walking out of the busy shuttle port with an address clutched in my hand. Before I got too far away from the vicinity of the building I zipped up the pale brown jacket I brought with me, clutching it around myself. After you've lived on L2 for a while you realize there are quite a few people who are all too eager to shoot a cop, and I didn't want to be a sitting duck for them.

Walking around L2 was different now that I was an adult, but there were still frightening similarities that made my heart ache. Things that most people wouldn't notice. Things like twenty pairs of little eyes tracking every step you took, sizing you up, thinking if they could get your wallet without you noticing. I used to be one of those kids. I guess things don't really ever change.

I didn't really notice as the crowds began to loosen, and I found myself walking towards the outskirts of downtown. The side walks were riddled with cracks, and old, broken down houses were lining the streets. I sighed as I looked at their broken frames, wondering about all the families broken by this damn colony. They were probably all empty, or being used as crack houses. My brow furrowed in anger, they might as well burn this whole colony down and start over. No matter what that bitch Peacecraft said this colony would never recover, not that there was any money going into saving it anyway.

I suddenly felt very bitter to be walking down the sidewalk to 213 Grand Valley. I suddenly just wanted to be off that godforsaken colony that stole my childhood from me and beg Heero not to kick me out of his apartment.

The numbers on the houses kept whittling down until I found myself standing in front of a broken down, white house. It had ivy growing up the sides, and the paint was scraping off in most places.

I sighed as I began to walk up the sidewalk leading to the house. The stairs creaked as my weight depressed on their wood frame until I found myself standing on the porch in front of an old oak door. One thing people didn't cheap out on in L2 neighborhoods was a door. You got the best damn door you could find.

I sighed and reached into my pocket, pulling out my cheat sheet of locations. Grand Valley was abandoned, just thrown on the paper as an extra to choose from.

I couldn't help the look of distaste that came over my face.

"Gut feeling," I snorted, crumpling the paper in my hands and stuffing it back into my pocket.

The wood creaked as I stalked back down the steps off the porch, my hands stuffed into my coat pockets.

"What a waste of time," I mumbled to myself, breathing out a sigh of annoyance. When I got to the sidewalk, I turned, giving the house one last scathing look before I began walking.

I pulled out my cell phone, my fingers ready to dial Zechs's number when a loud crash sounded down the street. My head snapped around, back towards the house. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but air suddenly felt about ten degrees cooler.

I took in a deep breath, turning myself around and began walking again. I got about five feet away when I paused in my step, looking back at it over my shoulder. I squinted my eyes at the broken down house. There was something about it, something wrong.

My feet moved involuntarily. I vaguely heard Heero's voice in the back of my head, reminding me of all the protocol procedures I was breaking, that you should never go in without backup, that being rash only lead to disaster. My feet quickened their pace, the wooden steps squeaking violently as my weight passed over them. My breathing became shallow as I made my way across the porch. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion as I reached for the door knob and turned.

The door was open. It creaked as I pushed it open with my foot, reaching into the holster under my jacket for my gun.

As I entered the house, I poised my gun, ready to fire if necessary. The air was stale, and there was an unspeakable stench that seemed to intensify with each step I took into the house. Jesus, I thought to myself, wondering if the last residents had bothered to take out the trash before they got evicted.

At first glance it looked like any house than had been abandoned or foreclosed on. There were dishes left on the counter, waiting to be cleaned by the people who had left them there, the space was dirty and the carpet and linoleum stained with things I didn't even want to think about. I kept my back to the wall as I walked through the kitchen, off to the right from where I entered, and the door remained open.

I nearly gagged as the smell intensified. I've smelled that smell many times. It was rot. But I'd never smelled it so intensely.

"Holy shit," I mumbled to myself, taking one hand from my gun and using it to cover my nose and mouth. Standing adjacent to the sink, and directly in front of the broken refrigerator I leaned forward to peer into the sink. Fruit loops. My brow furrowed in confusion. There were fruit loops in the sink.

"Fruit loops don't stink," I mumbled, leaning back against the fridge.

Taking my hand away from my mouth and nose, I replaced it back on my gun as I realized I was probably not as alone as I thought I was. Someone was living here.

A drop of sweat made its way down my face as I proceeded further into the house. The living room had a recliner with a blanket over it, facing an old tv with an antenna on top of it, the kind only set to pick up the local L2 channels.

The house was small, the bottom floor consisting only of the small kitchen, a living room doubling as a dining room, and a small hallway that led to a stairway to the second floor.

I found myself craning my neck to see up as far up the stairwell as possible. My foot hit the first step, my gun poised as I proceeded to move up.

A creaking sound erupted from the kitchen, making my body jump about four feet in the air as I was in mid step.

My mouth fell open a bit as I stepped back down the stairs, looking back in the direction of the kitchen, my brow furrowed.

I made small, quiet steps back to the kitchen, nearly gagging as the smell in the house intensified ten fold with each step closer. There was a door that was partially open, one that I had somehow missed in my initial walkthrough. My mind has probably dismissed it as a closet or pantry.

I used my foot to pull the door open, keeping my gun aimed at the doorway.

When the door was fully open I had to hold my breath to keep from vomiting. There was a rickety stairway leading down into what I could only assume was a basement, and the smell came wafting up it like a cloud of everything obscene.

My feet felt glued to the floor, refusing to leave their spot no matter what my mind told them to do. Every fiber in me was trying to tell me to leave, but a feeling began rising in my gut, telling me to keep going.

I finally forced myself to make a dissent down the stairs, holding my breath as the air became thicker and hotter. I thought about turning around and explaining the feeling in my gut as rising bile, but I kept going.

As I reached the last stair my foot fell upon packed dirt, instead of the concrete floor I was expecting. Gulping down the bile that was raising in my throat, I squinted my eyes trying to let them adjust to the darkness of the self made basement.

"Oh my god," I muttered, my eyes widening as the contents of the basement came into focus, as well as where the smell was coming from.

Little bones riddled the floor. My eyes felt permanently glued to the floor. Glued to those little bones.

"Jesus christ." The words came out as bare whispers, as bones became parts of bodies.

"Please no," a little voice came, causing me to whip around.

"Who's there?" I called, clutching my gun closer, taking small steps to the corner where the whimpers came from, stepping over bones as my eyes adjusted to the light.

"Oh," I breathed out, dropping to my knees as a little girl with long dark hair came into view, curled into the corner, her eyes to the floor.

"Are you alright?" I asked, replacing my gun into its holster and running my hands over the girls arms to check or surface wounds. She had dirt on her face and torn sun dress. "Honey, are you alright?" I asked again, putting my hand under her chin and raised it slightly, forcing her to look at me.

Her little face was tear stained, the left side of her face nearly shredded. My lip quivered as I ran my hands down her cheeks.

"Don't you worry," I said, swallowing all signs of fear I may have had to ease the little girl's mind. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you."

My head snapped around as the door to the top of the stairs slammed shut, and pitch black descended upon us. I was sure that if I survived, that little girl's scream would haunt my dreams forever.

-----

Yes I KNOW that's a very mean way to end the chapter, but I actually know where the story is going for once, so you are guaranteed with a quicker update than last time.


	5. Chapter 5

**The Stand Still**

**By: SukiNora**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own them, I just like to play with them.**

**Pairings: 1+2, 3X4, 5x?**

**Chapter 5**

"Honey, be quiet!" I whispered sharply, holding the little girl close to my chest, trying to keep her as still as possible. I wrapped my hand around her mouth, feeling her little body shake in terror as I reached into my vest for my gun.

Despite the metal being cold it felt like it was burning into my hand. I was holding it so tight that I was sure it would fuse into my skin. So many times during the war I'd heard people describe their gun as their lifeline, something they would never go anywhere without. I never understood that because of my gundam, but at that moment, I understood why people said that.

I tried to let my eyes eyes adjust to the pitch blackness that surrounded me, but the best I could do was seeing dark shades of grey and black.

"It's okay, sweetheart," I whispered, feeling her hot tears run down onto my hand. "You're going to be okay."

I kept repeating it and I desperately wished I knew if it were true or not. I tried to push the pervasive thoughts about the girl's parents, Heero, and my men out of my head if something went wrong. It's not good to think too much in those types of situations. Thinking gets you killed, instinct helps you get out of a jam when you think you're dead. That was one of the first lessons G taught me, and I was quickly forgetting it, pushing it into the back of my mind to make room for less important thoughts.

I kept surveilling the area even though I could barely see the hand stretched in front of me. Clutching the little girl to my side, I strained my ears for any kind of sound, almost afraid to breathe in case I'd miss some faint sound. I needed any kind of sign that whoever was living in the house was downstairs with me and the little girl. Between her little sobs and the hiccups in between them, the silence enveloped us. I gripped my gun tightly, and furrowed my eyes, ready to fire at anything that moved.

The little girl shifted in my arms, burying her face into my chest and clutching my jacket in her little hand. I ran my hand over the back of her head.

"Its okay, honey," I whispered so soft that I was barely able to hear myself.

Suddenly, a dim light flicked on and I found myself pointing my gun at a tall, pale man who looked about 45. From what I could see his hair was in the stages of turning gray, receding along the hairline, and he was wearing jeans and a ratty t-shirt with stains all down the front. I swallowed the saliva that was accumulating in the back of my throat. I didn't want to think about what those stains were from. He was cloaked in darkness but the light bulb glowed red, emitted a pale light into the room, making his pasty, white skin appear as a florescent red.

"Put your hands where I can see them," I growled, clutching my gun tightly with one hand, and keeping the little girl pressed tight against my chest with the other.

The man stared at me with cold, hard eyes, not making any signs of doing as I asked.

"Are you fucking deaf?" I growled out, my finger tightening on the trigger. "Put your hands where I can see them, or I will shoot you!" I yelled.

Slowly the man raised his hands in front of him, cocking his head to the left and giving a coy smile. "Shall we show him my little magic trick, daffodil?" His voice was higher than I would have expected. It was shrill and cold.

My eyes narrowed. "On the ground," I growled, attempting to stand with this little girl clutching my neck. When I finally got to my feet the little girl had her legs wrapped around my torso, her small arms wrapped tightly around my neck as I held her midsection.

My gun remained focused on the man, his smile widening as he slowly collapsed to his knees.

"All the way on the ground!" I screamed. "Get on your stomach!"

He wouldn't stop smiling, and it infuriated me. I had to stop myself from dropping the little girl and beating the shit out of him. My whole body tensed up and sweat perspired on my forehead in little beads. "Are you deaf?! Get on the ground now or I'll shoot!"

His smile widened, showing his crooked teeth. "Shoot?" He asked, raising both hands on either side of his head. "Say cheese."

Suddenly a massive light flashed, and my eyes began burning from the difference in light. I instinctively raised the arm that wasn't holding the little girl to shield my eyes, unfortunately that was also the hand holding my gun.

I let out a scream as I felt my wrist bending backward before it snapped. I dropped the gun, still clutching the girl to me when I felt a bullet rip into my foot. "Ah fuck!" I screamed, falling to the ground, the girl collapsing onto my chest screaming.

I was vaguely aware of the sound of the upstairs door slamming shut, as I rolled away from the girl, clutching my bleeding foot in my hands.

"Fuck, fuck!" I whimpered, tears stinging my eyes. Sitting up, I leaned against the wall, biting my lip. Keep focused, Maxwell, don't let the pain get to you, keep focused. I rested my head against the wall, adding as much pressure to my foot as I could. I felt like screaming, but I wasn't sure whether it was from agony or frustration or some sick mix between the two.

For the first time since I'd gotten on L2 I honestly wanted Heero to there. Heero always knew what to do in situations like this. While I knew what to do if someone around my got shot, it had been so long since I felt the hot sting of a bullet that I wasn't thinking clearly.

"Fuck," I sighed out, closing my eyes tightly.

"We're going to die, aren't we," came a little voice next to me.

I let out a long sigh and tilted my head to look at the little girl next to me, her outlined bathed in the red light emanated by the light bulb. She was a very cute little girl, and it hurt me to see her look so scared.

"You listen to me," I breathed out, clenching my teeth as I began to untie my boot with my good hand. "None one is going to die. You are not going to die down here. I am not going to let anything happen to you," I said firmly, my eyes furrowed in concentration as I tilted my head towards her.

Even in the dark I could see the tears welling up in her eyes. She was too young of a child to have lived through something like this, I thought to myself as she shuffled over to me and wrapped her arms around my neck.

I gave a little smile, trying not to wince as I took my hand from my foot and wrapped it around the little girl. "It's gonna be okay."

Taking my hand off her, I moved it back to my ankle, trying to take off my boot as gently as possible. The little girl let go of my neck and sat back against her legs, staring back at me with a horrid fascination.

"Honey," I started, pulling my sock off. "You might want to turn away for a second."

Her eyes stayed glued to my foot, dripping with blood. I rotated my wrist. It stung but I could do it, meaning that asshole hadn't actually broken it. Wrapping the sock around the bottom of my foot, directly under the bullet wound, I began tying the sock, pulling it tight enough to stop the bleeding but not cut off circulation.

My face twisted in pain as I tucked the ends of the sock under the bullet hole. I vaguely wondered how infected my foot was going to get after using my sock as a bandage, and had I been in another situation, I probably would have cracked a few jokes about it, something cheesy about athletes foot being like murder... Whatever, you can't have everything, and I guess appendages apply to that statement.

"That'll have to do for now," I muttered to myself, leaning my head back against the wall behind me. I scoffed to myself and thought about when I had first met Heero and he set his own leg. Smirking to myself, I had to stop myself from chuckling at the memory. He was such a freak of nature. A bullet to the foot probably wouldn't even phase him.

I felt the little girl crawl next to me, sitting just close enough for her leg to brush against mine. Feeling a little uncomfortable at the contact, I glanced down to see that she had her eyes glued to the packed dirt floor, like she wasn't sure whether or not to get close.

"What's your name sweet heart," I mumbled, draping my arm over her little shoulders.

"Susan," her little voice replied. It was strained, probably from screaming.

"That's a very pretty name," I said, giving her a little squeeze and looking down to give her a small smile. "A very pretty name for a pretty little girl."

Susan smiled up at me and shifted against my side, wrapping her arms around my stomach. It was obvious she craved human contact, any safe human contact that is. It made me wonder how long she had been locked in that basement.

I've come to know two types of kidnapped victims. The type who have been captive for a relatively short amount of time, maybe a week to two weeks, who latch onto the first person they don't see as a threat, and the type who have been in custody for months. People who have been kept by bastards like this guy for that long avoid everyone. They think everyone is in with their kidnapper, and due to their circumstances, I can't say I blame them for being so distrustful.

"Susan, do you know how long this man has kept you here?" I asked, or at least I think I did. My voice began to fade out as I breathed the sentence out, becoming nothing but background noise in the back of my head.

I didn't hear her response. My eyelids began to fall, suddenly feeling like they weighed thousands of pounds. It would be so easy to drop into that silence. If it weren't for the meddling kid that is...

I was vaguely aware of her little hands gripping my shoulder and shaking it with about as much strength as she probably had. It was somewhat uncomfortable, at least to the point to shake me from my stupor.

"Mister! Mister!" Her voice was shrill, and riddled with tears. It cracked and she began to hiccup as she continued to yell and shake me. She was depending on me. Desperate to be with someone, and not to be alone.

'Get a grip on yourself, Maxwell," I thought to myself, raising my hand to her back and pulling her closer to me. 'She's counting on you.'

I rubbed my hand across her back in small circles in an attempt to quiet her sobs. Her hiccups were shaking her small body, making her seem much more frail than before.

"Susan, how long have you been down here," I asked, giving myself a mental slap on the face to make myself sound more confident. In situations with a kidnapped victim, as an officer it is your objective to make the victim feel safe in your presence.

She shook her head against my chest, signifying she did not feel like answering that question. I let out a deep sigh.

"Honey, you have to tell me everything you know so I can get you out of here. Does he bring you anything? Food? Water?"

She took in a deep breath and tried to clear the snot out of her nose. "He takes pictures," she mumbled into my chest, trailing her words off.

I scoffed. So that's what that fucking light was. "How often, hon?"

She continued to sniffle as she lightly pulled away from my chest. "I don't know," she mumbled, staring into her lap. I raised my hand under her chin and used the edge of my jacket to wipe the snot that was trailing out of her nose, giving her a small smile. She kept her eyes away from my face.

I let out a sigh and lightly patted her on the back, pulling her back against my chest. She obviously wasn't going to talk anymore, and I couldn't say I blamed her. She was so young, and I didn't even want to think about what this freak was taking pictures of.

Lightly pulling the little girl off me, I leaned again the wall for support as I attempted to stand without the use of my foot.

"Where are you going!?" Susan nearly yelled, her arms flying around my legs.

"Ack!" I grunted, my hand flying to her shoulder to stable myself as pain shot up from my foot and into my leg.

"Shh, shh. Don't worry, I'm not going to leave you," I whispered, gritted my teeth before leaning to give her a brief hug. "I just need to look around, okay?"

Her eyes were wide and watery, but she finally gave me a slight nod and loosened her hold on my legs. I gave her head a light pat before I stood straight again and tried to steady my breathing.

The basement was smaller than I had previously thought upon first sight. Probably about 20 feet by 20, with the stairway directly in front of us and ending up in about the middle of the floor. Behind the stairway looked like a bunch of potato sacks full of something bumpy.

I pushed away from the wall and held my arms out as I hopped towards the stairs, intending to check out what was behind the stairway. My fingers gripped the wood tightly as I hopped beside the stairs. What the hell was that? I squinted my eyes, leaning over a bit to get a closer look before a noise startled me from upstairs.

My head snapped towards the ceiling as a muffled pounding sound came from upstairs. I looked down to the little girl and raised my finger to my lips, signaling her to be quiet. I needed to know what that bastard was doing upstairs. The pounding came again.

"Maxwell! Agent Maxwell are you in there?!"

My eyes became saucers in seconds, and I threw myself at the stairs. It was one of my recruits.

"Down here," I screamed, slamming my body against the stairs, using the rail to stable myself before propelling my body up them. My feet slipped in my haste, and pain shot up my legs, but it was a vague thought in the back of my head.

"Maxwell! I'm coming in!"

I strained my hearing, trying to tell which one it was. "Matthews! Is that you?!" I called, reaching the top of the stairs and bracing myself as I slammed my shoulder into the door. Locked. Of course.

"Yes, sir! I'm coming in," he yelled, and I paused in my assault of the door as three gun shots were fired and the sound of wood cracking as his foot collided with the door.

"Matthews, be careful there's someone in the house," I yelled with my ear pressed against the door, trying to hear as much as possible.

"Negative, sir! This house is tagged as repossessed!"

I growled, and let out a yell of frustration as I slammed my shoulder against the door. "Matthews! Listen to me! There is a man in this house and he has my gun so be careful!"

"Sir, I don't..."

His voice was cut out as a gun shot rang out.

"Matthews!" I screamed, my voice cracking. Leaning back I used the railing as leverage to slam my body hard into the door.

The pain in the shoulder echoed throughout my chest with each collision it made with the door.

"Matthews, answer me!" The wood finally began to make the tell tale cracking sounds of it giving way to my assault.

My body was flung to the floor as the lock finally gave out. I quickly got to my knees and and stood with my back facing the wall, scanning the area for the man and anything I could use as a weapon. Moving quickly and clumsily I threw myself towards the sink and grabbed the bowl from it, dumping out the fruit loops and holding it close to me. If anything I could bash his head pretty good with the ceramic.

"Susan you stay where you are!" I called, keeping my back to the wall as I made my way to the front hall where Matthews laid faced down on the floor, blood pooling around him.

"Stay with me Matthews," I mumbled, pressing two fingers into his jugular to find a weak pulse. "It's gonna be okay."

I dropped the bowl onto the ground next to me and quickly ran my hands down his body, searing for his emergency line.

"Thank God," I whispered, holding the walkie talkie tight to my chest as I began scanning the area again. The door was still open, so it was possible the man had left. But it was never good to rely on that.

My finger depressed the button and my voice called into the device. "Zechs, get a medical escort to 213 Grand Valley ASAP, this is not a drill. This is an emergency situation and we need a medical escort to 213..."

That's really all I remember before the bowl connected with the back of my head. It would figure.


	6. Chapter 6

**The Stand Still**

**By: SukiNora**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own them, I just like to play with them.**

**Pairings: 1+2, 3X4, 5x?**

**Chapter 6**

**A.N. Sorry about the ending of the last chapter, I know that was horrible. But thanks to everyone who reviewed. Happy reading! **

**--**

My sight was fuzzy as I attempted to pry my eyes open. They felt like they'd been glued shut, and I could almost feel the paste separate as I tried to peel my lids apart. The room was dark, too dark to see anything, but I suppose my inability to see could have been due to the fuzziness. I let out a small exhale of air and gave in the weights on my eyes, finally allowing them to close. There didn't seem to be any point in having my eyes open, especially since I couldn't see anything when they open anyway.

I was in a hospital, that much I was sure of. The steady, constant beeps of the machines I was hooked into was a dead give away. There was also the slight pressure of the IV in my arm. If I had the energy, I would have complained that I didn't need one, but I suppose if I had the energy, my eyes would also probably be open.

I'm not sure how long I laid there. I was awake but asleep at the same time. Aware, but not thinking of anything as I lay with my eyes closed, the beep of the machines echoing quietly in my ears, as though I couldn't really hear them. I was drugged. Sedated most likely, and it was probably being pumped into me through the IV. I mumbled a slight curse in my head, wishing I had the energy to reach over and rip the tube out of my arm.

I hate sedatives. It's one of the main things Heero and I have in common. We both hate the feeling of being out of control. It's actually a terrifying thought to be aware, but not be able to move.

It was hard to keep my mind steady, and since all the sounds kept fading in and out, I barely noticed when the slight creak of the door mixed into the beeps.

A hand covered my mouth, and my eyes snapped open. My vision was still fuzzy but I could make out the distinct outline of a man. Slowly, keeping my eyes on the intruder, I spread my palm on the bed, searching for the call button. When it brushed against my finger, I clamped my hand around it my thumb getting ready to depress the button.

"If you're smart you'll drop that, Duo."

My breath quickened. 'Oh my god, he's going to strangle me,' I thought to myself as squinted my eyes in an attempt to see my intruder, even though there really wasn't a need to anymore. I knew that voice. It was Heero, and his tone of voice said I was going to die.

I released the call button slowly, letting it drop right below my hand.

"Good," Heero mumbled, barely loud enough for me to hear. "Now look, I know you probably want out of here."

He paused, and I assumed he was waiting for a response from me, so I gave a little nod.

"I thought so," he breathed out and took his hand away from my mouth. "Can you talk?"

I thought about it, and tried to open my mouth. They must have had me on some weird ass shit. My mouth felt like one of those medicine bottles that have cotton stuffed between the pills and the protective foil. Hard to open, and when you finally do, there's still a bunch of shit between you and what you want. When I finally got my mouth open, I just couldn't reach what I really wanted: to talk.

I shook my head as best I could, which was probably just enough to get the point across.

"I'm not going to kill you," he stated, his outline now in profile. "At least until I can hear your explanation."

I could feel the sweat accumulating on my forehead and my saliva getting hot, just like it did before I was going to ralph. Basically all I heard was "I'm not going to kill you, yet."

Heero leaned over me, gripping my forearm and gave the IV tube a firm tug. I winced a bit, not because it hurt really, but more because I knew he wasn't concerned about whether or not it did. He didn't even bother to clean up the blood that beaded from the prick, just grabbed my arm and flung me over his shoulder.

Heero flung the door open and stepped out into the hall way with no hesitance. I glanced up and saw Wufei standing next to my door, his arms crossed and wearing a grim expression.

"Thanks for looking out, Wufei," Heero said, patting him on the shoulder.

Wufei nodded in response. "No problem," he mumbled, lowering his head to glare at me. He was a man of few words, but as I was carried out of the hospital over Heero's shoulder, his expression bore into me, and I began to feel guilty.

My chest bounced against Heero's back with each progressing step he took, and I realized that I couldn't be mad at him. He had every right to be mad.

"I'm sorry," I said, but the words came out in barely a whisper. It wouldn't matter, I'd already signed my death sentence with that wink.

Goose bumps accumulated on my arms as we exited the hospital. It was night, probably around 2 am. L2 was always trying to save a few bucks and turned down the weather controls at night, unless they were broken that is, to around 50 - 60 degrees.

My ass felt cold in the wind. I hadn't realized until we stepped outside that I was in one of those backless hospital gowns. If I had any pride left, I'm sure I would have been blushing instead of chuckling to myself. I knew it wasn't funny, especially in the situation I was in with Heero. But my mind kept wandering back to imagined tabloid covers that had Heero carrying me over his shoulder with my butt hanging out. It would be a full moon tonight.

We were walking for what felt like a century, but was probably only ten to fifteen minutes. I figured he was taking me back to the hotel I had my troops stationed at, since he was probably staying there too. There weren't very many hotels on L2 that weren't mostly used for a quick fuck, or a drug deal. And with the festival underway we had to book that particular hotel months in advance.

When Heero paused in front of what I assumed to be the door to the lobby of our hotel, he rested his hand against my thigh before sliding me off his shoulder.

"Lean against me," he said, keeping his hands on my shoulders as I tried to steady myself on my wobbly legs.

I cleared my throat, and gave a nod, placing my hand on his shoulder. It was the first time I had gotten a look at my foot.

'Right...' I thought to myself, wondering how much flack I was going to catch for shooting myself in the foot, literally.

Heero placed his hand on my waist and helped me hobble through the door to the hotel. "Easy," he muttered. "It's not like we're in a hurry."

I shook my head. Definitely not in a hurry to die. We headed to the elevators and I watched as Heero lightly clicked the up arrow. His face was blank, and it made my very nervous. My hands began to feel clammy, and I wiped the one not wrapped around Heero on my hospital gown. The sweat soaked into the fabric and made the damp cloth feel cool against my thigh.

I hated when he acted like that. Just completely blank, so you have no idea what he's thinking. I've seen that look before, and when I did he asked me to punch him. He did not say that he was going to punch back.

He helped me hobble into the elevator and pushed the button for level 10. We were not going to my room.

I kept my eyes on the stainless steel doors in front of me, and tried to steady my heart rate. I was sure it was beating so hard that half of L2 could hear it. When the bell finally rang to signal our arrival on the floor, my breath caught in my throat.

Heero's arm tightened around my waist, holding the door open with his forearm so I could take my time getting out of the elevator. It wasn't like him to be so gentlemanly.

"Almost there," he muttered into my ear. I kept my eyes to the ground, for whatever reason I find it easier to walk when I'm injured if I can see my feet. It's almost like if I can't see them, I'm not really sure they are there.

Heero gave me a slight tug, and turned to face his hotel room door. I glanced up at it, and saw that he was taking out his Preventers ID card. He swiped it into the card slot and the door's handle flashed green.

My eye brows rose. I never knew we could assign our ID cards for hotels.

Heero held the door wide, and had me hobble into the room before him. It was a simple room. Light brown walls, a small hallway with a door that I assumed led to the bathroom, and a queen sized bed facing a small TV. Sounds like L2, nothing more than you needed. And yes, I do need television.

As soon as my eyes set sight on the bed I let go of Heero's shoulders and hopped over it, throwing my self down and sighing into one of the pillows. I was so tired. With every exhale I felt like I was going to be dropped into a warm puddle of unconscious. I didn't think that the small walk from the elevator to the room would make me that tired, after all the affects of the drug seemed to be wearing off.

The bed dipped down next to me, and Heero's distinct scent filled my nostrils. It was just how I remembered it in the war. Strange how I've never met someone with such a unique smell. I could be in the middle of the largest room, packed full of thousands of people and I'd be able to pick out that smell.

And then, I thought of something rather odd. It was quiet. I coughed a few times, trying to loosen the phlegm that resided in my throat.

"I'm surprised you aren't yelling," I said, but it came out as something that could barely be classified as a whisper, so I attempted to clear my throat again. It felt better the second time.

The bed shifted again, and Heero let out an audible sigh next to me.

"I am too actually," he mumbled, bringing his hand up to rest against his forehead. "You know you'd deserve it if I was yelling, right?"

I kept my eyes closed but nodded into the pillow. I'd probably deserve getting beaten to a pulp, that's what I'd want to do if I were in his position. You don't ditch your partner. I guess that's just my problem, I always want to push the envelope. I didn't want Heero to think he controlled me or my actions at Preventers. I'm my own man, I just have incredibly bad judgment.

Heero's shoes hit the floor with a decent thump before the bed sunk next to me. The dip was pretty large. I never could figure out how Heero got so much larger than me, after all he's half asian. It actually felt wrong to me that I wasn't bigger. Whatever, it's just one more thing he's got on me.

Heero's arms curled around me and I couldn't help the smile that tugged at my lips.

"Gonna suffocate me?" I mumbled as I felt his arms tighten around me.

His body tensed, and his embrace turned loose.

"What?" I asked, my eye brows furrowing and my eyes opening slightly. He didn't respond. Something help wrong.

"What?" I repeated, my voice cracking. I sat up slightly so I could turn to look down at the larger man. His face was emotionless.

"Heero, what?" I whispered. The worry on my face must have been evident, because his mouth opened slightly like he was going to say something, but nothing came out, his eyes riddled with concern. He took a deep breath and sat up, his eyes never leaving mine.

"Duo," he began, his voice uncharacteristically soft. "Matthews is dead."

"That's not funny," I whispered. I felt my face twisting up in anger. How could he say something like that to me? He knew how much my recruits meant to me. I'd spent every moment with them, training them, preparing them for a world of crime from the second they were assigned to me. He couldn't be dead. I trained him. He was ready.

Heero turned away from me, and folded his hands in his lap. "Do you remember what happened?"

My head was still kind of clouded, but there was definitely something there in the fog. I went to that house. That house that Anderson had the hunch about and... oh my god.

"Heero, what happened to Susan," I blurted out , grabbing onto his arm.

He kept his head down for a while before he looked up at me, his eye brows furrowed and mouth slightly open. Each second that passed felt like an hour of deafening silence.

"What?" I asked, squeezing his arm. "God, what?!" I yelled, my throat constricting my voice box, causing my voice to sound like it did back when I was 13.

"She's dead, Duo," he mumbled, returning his gaze to his lap.

"What?" I whispered. "How?"

"He strangled her, she was dead when we arrived at the scene."

I was speechless. I had promised her that I'd protect her, that she wasn't going to die. And now a little girl was dead because of me.

"Did you get him?" I asked, my eyes starting to well up.

Heero shook his head, and I started to blink back tears.

"He's out there," I whispered, dropping my hand from Heero's arm to clench my fists. I've never dealt with rage well. Usually I jump up and do something rash, like chasing down some poor guy before beating the shit out of him and letting the Preventers take the bad rep. Looking back, I suppose it was a good thing that I couldn't walk.

"We'll get him, Duo," Heero said, resting his hand over mine and giving it a small squeeze.

"No," I growled. "I'm going to get him."


	7. Chapter 7

**The Stand Still**

**By: SukiNora**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own them, I just like to play with them.**

**Pairings: 1+2, 3X4, 5x?**

**Warnings: Heero POV**

**Chapter 7**

**A.N. I know it's been forever . I'm sorry folks. I'll try to get better.**

**--**

I let out a sigh as the bed shifted next to me. Duo was awake again. This is pretty much how the nights have gone in this apartment since the L2 mission: I would go to bed alone, twenty minutes later Duo would sneak in, wrap himself around me and sleep for two hours before waking up and sitting on the edge of my bed for an hour.

I had no more reason to be paranoid of my mischievous American roommate. Duo had no interest in doing anything anymore besides lurking around the computer. There was no more searching through my belongings, no more "slumber parties," or attempts to skip out on work to stay home with me. Duo didn't go to work at all anymore, all he did was research.

And while you may think that this would make me happy, it was doing the opposite. It was hard to admit to myself that I was upset by sad Duo did. Sure, I'm usually bothered by Duo when he goes on his strange tangents, but I don't think he's ever actually made me sad. Upset, now that is a different story. I was very upset when Duo started to take on other partners, but did it really make me sad? Not really, it bothered me, and it upset me, but I was able to live with it. This sadness is different. With the absence of his smile, his obsession with the computer, and his lack of life, I felt like my world was completely thrown. And it bothered me not because I found it annoying, but because I've never seen such pain in Duo's eyes before.

It's been in those eyes since we got back from L2. Une didn't blame Duo for what happened to his recruit. He completely broke protocol, and he paid for it, setting an example of the importance of protocol to the rest of the recruits. But Duo didn't see it that way, and he almost had a heart attack when Une told him that she expected him back at work as soon as his foot was healed. I was in the room at the time, and it was one of the rare occasions when Duo was rendered speechless.

When we arrived back at the apartment he told me that it was his fault for not only his recruit, but also for the little girl who was killed. I've never been very good at being comforting, and since everything I'd been told about what occurred that day had indicated that Duo was not at fault I couldn't even think of anything to say. I remember very awkwardly placing my hand against his back as he told me he was taking a leave of absence from work, and stiffening when he wrapped his arms around my neck and told me what a good friend I was.

I rolled onto my back, letting out a long sigh as I rubbed my eyes. The moon was shining through the window again, giving off enough light so I could see Duo's outline, and the glassy shine of his eyes. The moon actually shined through my window quite a bit, I was just never aware of it since I tended to sleep at night. Not anymore though. Not since the L2 mission.

"She's not there, Duo," I mumbled as I sat up, my body protesting as my muscles strained as they went through the transition of relaxation to stress.

His eyes remained glued on that corner. It had taken me a while to figure out what he was staring at in that corner, but after weeks of nightmares I'd managed to pick up the pieces of exactly what was bothering Duo.

"Can you really not see her?" He whispered, eyes wide and staring. Every night he woke like this, locked in his own nightmare. To be honest, it took me a long time to figure out that he wasn't still asleep during these staring bouts. I had just figured he was still sleeping, since he did sleep walk on occasion. It was only when I found him staring at the corner in our kitchen when I realized he was really seeing things. Seeing her. And I'm still not sure what to do about it.

Regulations say that that I should tell Sally and he should be honorably discharged from the Preventers. But Duo was a good agent, a solid partner, and most importantly, my best friend. As corny as it sounds, Duo was my other half, and he hacked his way to that point even while I was still in my Perfect Solider phase.

I kept telling myself that these late nights could be overlooked because he had been so traumatized. He wasn't seeing things, he was traumatized. I figured that was probably true, and a fair way to assess the situation. But something in the back of my mind kept reminding me that telling Sally would mean one thing to Duo. Betrayal. And that would be enough to rip my other half away. Telling Sally was never an option because it meant that Duo would leave. I dealt with things the only way I knew how, stating facts.

"No, because she isn't there," I said firmly, resting my hand on his shoulder and trying to pull him back down onto the bed. He wouldn't budge.

"She is," he responded, keeping his back rigid, raising his arm to push mine away.

I sighed, running a hand through my hair before sitting up against the wall. "I thought you didn't believe in ghosts."

"So did I," he said shortly, his eyes never once leaving that spot.

"Please stop this," I mumbled, resting my head against my knees. "You've got to stop blaming yourself, this isn't healthy. For either of us."

Duo's head then snapped towards me. "What right do you have to tell me what's healthy?" He spat out, glaring. "You want to talk about healthy? Why don't we talk about your behavior during the wars. How many unhealthy things did you engage in back then, Heero?"

It was hard to keep my temper in check, but through gritted teeth and clenched fists, I did. "If you're going to act like this, get out of my room and go sleep in your own bed, Duo," I said stiffly, laying back down and facing away from his stunned face. It was the first time I had really snapped back at him, but after so many sleepless nights I was beginning to get, for lack of a better word, grouchy.

Duo sat still for a few moments, and I was sure he had some stupid dumfounded look on his face. I so rarely yelled at him these days that whenever I did I think it took him a few moments to realize it actually happened.

The bed shifted next to me and I went stiff as I felt a warm body press against my back, and an arm draped across my chest. "I'm sorry," he whispered, his breath floating across my skin, sending an involuntary shiver down my spine.

I sighed and moved my arm so I could hold his hand against my stomach. "I know, Duo," I mumbled, more interested in sleeping than making up.

Duo however was more interested in making up than letting me sleep. His leg wrapped around my waist as he climbed over my side so he could lay face to face with me on the edge of the bed. At the time I thought nothing of it. Duo had been my only real friend, and it didn't feel weird, or out of the ordinary to sleep in such close proximity, so I did what felt right. I held him.

"Why do you put up with me?" He mumbled into my chest, his breath warm against my skin.

I took in a deep breath, the scent of his hair so different from the one I had become used to. Duo devoted all his time to searching, including time that used to be spent bathing. Not that he ever smelled very bad, but I wont lie and say that I didn't miss the smell of his banana shampoo. He said it was all natural, and that's what made it smell so much like my favorite fruit.

"I have no idea," I whispered, my hand moving almost instinctively to the back of his neck, holding his head tight against my chest. "But I don't think I'll ever stop putting up with you either."

"Well at least that's one thing," came the mumbled response.

I chuckled a bit, squeezing him tighter. "Just go to sleep. Forget about it for a while."

He sighed against my skin. "I don't think I'll ever be able to forget it," he whispered.

"Then just let me think about it for you."

I felt the nod, and breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe he'd finally go to sleep. The truth was, however, that I would end up taking on his nightmares as he slept peacefully.

I can't remember the last time Duo slept in his own bedroom, or even spent time in his bedroom. Thus my room has been turned into his own sanctuary, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

The first time I noticed it was a couple weeks after he'd begun his obsessive search. A single paper tacked onto my wall. A yellow sheet of paper with only a few illegible scrawls on it. I stared befuddled at it for a few moments before I awkwardly took the note in my hand and tugged down on it.

The next day I was greeted by the same yellow note, but this time it was followed by the business card of someone from L2.

After a week of taking down these papers and having them reappear in greater numbers I gave up. I figured he needed the space more than I did anyway, and I would certainly prefer to keep his research confined to one room and out of sight from anyone who may decide to stop by, such as our very concerned arabic friend.

As Duo's breaths became slow and deep, I began rubbing his back as I gazed around the room. Now the walls were littered with papers, each with no real significance to anyone who looked upon them, but to Duo they were pieces to a puzzle he needed to complete in order to rest.

I stopped looking at the mess against my walls and down onto the top of Duo's head. He really needed to wash it, and I'd be sure to tell him so in the morning when he woke up.

--

"He's sleeping with you?" Trowa asked incredulously around a mouthful of salad, a little fleck of spinach landing on the table in front of us.

I cringed and nodded, stirring my strawberry yogurt a bit more forcefully than necessary with my spork to keep myself from wiping up the green intrusion.

"Heero," Trowa started, his eyes still wide as he set his fork down. "Are you really sure you want to start going down this road now? While he's so vulnerable?"

"What road?" I asked, licking the remains of the yogurt off the plastic utensil. We learned pretty early on to pack our own lunches, the food in the Preventers cafeteria was very dicey. But after Duo lost nearly half of our silverware we made it a rule that whenever we packed our own lunches, we used the plastic utensils provided at work. That was when I was introduced to the spork.

"Are you serious?"

I turned my head slightly as Wufei took his normal seat next to Trowa on the opposite side of the table. "Heero, you can't start a relationship with him like this," he started, setting down his tray. "Duo's too traumatized right now. Do you want him to think you're taking advantage of him?" This remark was emphasized with the point of a plastic knife.

At that point in my life, I didn't even know what a relationship was. It just never crossed my mind. I had never intended to start a relationship with Duo. I enjoyed being in his company, and enjoyed living with him, but a relationship with him was just such a distant idea.

"Take advantage of him in what way, exactly?" It was somewhat humorous to see the blush creep up on Wufei's face as Trowa just gave me a look that basically said "are you kidding me?"

"Heero," Trowa started, as Wufei turned his head, now more fascinated by the wall than the topic of conversation. "Are you kidding me?"

Throwing my spork down onto the table, I let out a sigh of frustration as I ran a hand through my hair. I had forgotten to brush it this morning so the knots were worse than usual. More than once I've considered just shaving it off but Duo wouldn't have it. He's got this thing about hair.

"No, I am not kidding you," I growled out. "Look, I'm really tired this morning so just stop beating around the bush and just say what you've got to say."

Trowa's eyes furrowed a bit at my harsh words. "Don't fuck Duo while he's so messed up."

Wufei almost died choking on the apple sauce he had been eating. Trowa moved to pat his back while I sat baffled by the statement. I had never thought about having intercourse with Duo. Could I even have intercourse with Duo? I knew that Trowa and Quatre had something going on, but it had never really sunk in. They were best friends. Just like Duo was my best friend, or so I thought. I was not fucking my best friend.

"I am not doing that," I stated. "Duo, wouldn't even want to do that." I felt my chest constrict as those words came out. I hadn't even meant to say it. It was one of those times when it just happened, the words just came out independently.

The two across from me just stared at me. One still wore that horrified look while one wore a smug expression.

"But you'd like to be doing that?" Trowa asked, spearing a piece of lettuce with his fork.

"I," it came out as a stammer. "I don't." I felt my hands starting to shake as my mind frantically searched for something I could say to dispute what Trowa was insinuating. "I have to go," finally was mumbled out as I stumbled over myself trying to throw all my trash into my paper bag.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, Heero," Trowa stated, obviously amused by my fumbling. "We've all been expecting it."

"Since when?!" Wufei cried out, burrowing his face in his hands as I finally made my exit from the cafeteria.

End

Thought I'd end this chapter on a slighter happier note. I really am sorry about the wait on this chapter and thank you to everyone who reviewed to this fic even after so long without an update.

In the next chapter I've decided to start it out with Heero being very confused on the way home from work and when he comes home finds Duo researching but he's about to find something very important.


	8. Chapter 8

**The Stand Still**

**By: SukiNora**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own them, I just like to play with them.**

**Pairings: 1+2, 3X4, 5x?**

**Warnings: Heero POV**

**Chapter 8**

**A.N. Thank you everyone for your kind words. Things are going to start getting dark. Happy reading.**

**--**

I gripped the steering wheel so tight that a white tinge started to creep up on my knuckles. A slow fading white that masked the tan color my hands were usually. Just slow enough to show a glimpse of what was once there, but still invading, still taking over. I'm not the type of person to skip work, or become frazzled by a coworker, even if that coworker was a close friend. Yet there I was, sitting so rigid against my car seat that my back may as well been transformed into a wooden plank. Something in me was changing. Slowly, but just like the white on my knuckles it was taking over and turning me into someone unfamiliar. Showing glimpses of my old self but nonetheless throwing me into an identity crisis.

I cannot love. That's how it has always been, and how it will continue to be. I have no reason to love, it is a needless emotion that gets in the way of things and makes situations complicated. I listened to that speech for years, and it's meaning always made sense to me. Nothing came from love besides complications.

'You're just letting him get to you,' I thought to myself as I slowed for a yellow light, even though I was tempted to gun it. I've always liked going fast, especially when I was bothered by something. It was like the speed allowed me to block everything out, turning everything else into a blur besides the one thing I needed to concentrate on. And after all, if I got hit by another car it would just give me an excuse not to show my face in the office for a few days. It was really a win win situation.

As I slammed my head down on the steering wheel I couldn't help the curse that came from my lips. Everyone was sure to be talking after this incident at lunch, especially after I decided that I'd rather just clock out early then spend another second in a building where I may chance running into Trowa, or in the more extreme case Quatre.

That blonde was always meddling and causing trouble for me. I never understood the way he talked to me about Duo until now. Until Trowa's delightful display of bluntness at lunch.

"God, fuck Duo?" I asked myself, the words leaving a dreadful taste in my mouth, one that I hoped wasn't the horrible taste of denial that Quatre was always talking about.

I can honestly say the thought had never crossed my mind. I never really thought about being intimate with anyone. Intimacy went hand in hand with love, and that was dangerous. And while many teens find themselves day dreaming about such things I never had time, or an interest for that matter, in anything that dealt with love, including sex. Even as we started growing up Duo pretty much filled any void in my life. I didn't need to think about that kind of companionship because I already had everything I wanted. There just wasn't a void to fill.

'Great,' I thought to myself, gripping the wheel a bit tighter. 'This sounds real good. No Trowa, I actually don't need to have sex with anyone, I filled that void in me with Duo.'

A horn beeped from behind me, startling me so much that my foot hit the gas peddle a little harder than necessary as I gave an I'm sorry wave to the car behind me and took off into the intersection, still pondering exactly what category Duo fell under in my book.

Now that I thought of it, he seemed to be everything that a significant other would be. He lived with me, knew pretty much all there was to know about me (expect my glasses, or at least I thought so), trusted me, was a lot of fun to be around (before this whole L2 incident happened), and seemed to share the same feelings of happiness around me as I did around him.

The real question was, did I want to take those feelings to something more? I couldn't help but shift in my seat, even thinking about taking things further with Duo made me uncomfortable. It was not the natural order of things. I couldn't just do things with Duo, it would feel wrong. I had learned from movies and magazines that love was an integral part of sex, thus making sex with Duo only an option if I was in love with him.

That was the tricky part. The sticky, ugly part. The love factor. I had no idea what love was supposed to be. Movie love showed dainty women and masculine men chasing them with dopey smiles on their faces. They went to parks and walked their dogs together, ate in gourmet restaurants, and never did anything that Duo and I would even consider doing.

They did not clean out each others wounds, or give each other stitches, eat food that came prepackaged or dehydrated, and they did not bicker.

Though I still found myself rather perturbed by the love concept, there were things to suggest that there were feelings. The whole Relena incident had definitely shown that Duo was at least protective of me, and in some way that had to be symptom of love. I thought then that it may be possible that I was in love with Duo, after all I have been known to be quite protective of him, though he calls it jealousy.

That lead to a whole new thought: was jealously a part of love? I figured trust had to be part of love and I did not trust Duo as far as I could throw him. My jealously had been spawned from the fact that I do not trust Duo. He had partnered with men he knew I did not trust, left randomly on missions and went through all my personal belongings.

And yet I kept chasing him. I depressed my foot down a bit harder on the gas pedal. I followed Duo where ever he went, desperate to be at his side and finding myself utterly lost when he wasn't around. Even though he made me furious, I never found it in myself to leave. I always followed him. Was that love?

At the time I had absolutely no idea, and from that point on I decided that I would find out. I decided that if I could find myself attracted to Duo physically that meant those feelings I had for Duo must be love, because I had believed that in order to have sex with someone they must be harboring some type of romantic feeling for them.

I finally made it home, though the rest of the ride was a blur, a skid mark on the real problem at hand. Duo, what he meant to me, and what I was willing to do with those feelings.

The keys fumbled in my hands as I tried to open the door. Old habits die hard and we had three locks installed on our door, each with a different key to get in, two deadbolts and one door lock. While good for security, not good when you're debating whether you could fuck your roommate and best friend. It took me a good five minutes to get the door open, and I half expected Duo to be standing behind it with a gun at the ready.

When the door finally swung open I let out a sigh of relief as Duo was not in the living room. I had no doubt he knew I was home, but because he didn't emerge from my room when he head me fumbling with the door, I knew he was either in the middle of something, or wanted some alone time. That was fine with me. Quite frankly, I needed some alone time too.

I threw my brief case down next to the couch, plopping down on it and letting out a deep sigh. I glanced around the room and a found that a trail of post its began lining their way up out of the bedroom. His horrible habit was spreading.

I moved from the bed to stand in front of the wall that inhabited the new notes. There were a few papers with some phone numbers scrawled on them, random names, and a lone newspaper article with certain areas highlighted and circled. _Children Slaughtered for Organs on L2. _ The article was dated back five years ago.

If anything could sweep the entire concept of love out of my head this was it. Duo had found him.

"The black market," I muttered to myself, my fingers lightly running over the old yellowing paper. I had no doubt he probably ripped the article out of the newspaper racks at the library. He's done it before, and no amount of scolding can get Duo to stop something he deems more convenient than making a copy.

Duo had circled certain parts of the article, and my eye automatically drifted to them. Five bodies found in a house on the outskirts of L2, all female, appeared to be tortured before their organs were removed, suspect never found, bodies found in a basement darkroom...

"Great," I mumbled to myself, my hand dropping from the wall. "Just great."

If Duo had gotten this close there was no doubt in my mind that he was already on his way to L2. Even i couldn't deny the similarities, and based on the L2 police's track record I had no doubt that this murderer stayed on L2. Hell he probably just moved a couple houses down the street, and Duo was sure to know that. For all I knew he had already arrested the guy.

The bathroom door suddenly opened and I nearly jumped out of my skin, throwing my back up against the wall and reaching for my gun before realizing it was Duo.

"Oh, Duo," I started, letting out a sigh and bringing my hands where he could see them, after all, old habits die hard. "It's just yo..." I stopped talking and looked over the man standing in front of me. This wasn't the man who had been lurking around the apartment. This was a Preventer, standing in the doorway of my bathroom, wearing the traditional uniform and looking clean and refined.

He stared at me for a few moments not saying anything before he let out the breath he had been holding. Clearly he had not been expecting to have me home so soon, and based on the notes he tacked to the wall, we both knew why he was getting ready while I wasn't here. He was leaving, and that was his way of telling me where he was going.

"Going back to work?" I said carefully, crossing my arms against my chest. Not wanting to make him feel threatened and have him storm or sneak out, since both were possibilities.

Duo shrugged, walking past me into the bedroom. "You could say that," he said shortly. "Aren't you home early?"

I followed him into the bedroom and watched him start throwing clothes into a suitcase. "Yeah, Trowa said a few traumatizing words that I needed to think over."

Duo couldn't help the chuckle that escaped from his lips, but I could tell he was trying from its strained sound. "Trowa traumatized you?"

"You could say that," I mumbled, moving towards the bed and sitting down next to the open suitcase. I stared at every move Duo made, watching the material of his jacket move, and the hair around his face and forehead whisk around when he moved.

For the first time I was at least trying to not look at Duo as my best friend, but a potential life partner, not an easy feat since I had always thought that we were going to spend the rest of our lives together anyway. I never thought about the future in that particular way, I had just assumed nothing between Duo and I would change, and that we'd spend the remainder of our youth in the apartment, and maybe when we retired we'd move into a house.

"Duo, please just let it go," I mumbled, dragging my gaze away from him and began staring at my shoes. I never realized how much peace the future I had just assumed for the two of us gave me until I really thought about it. With all this shit going on with the L2 case I started wondering if Duo's obsession was getting in the way of it. Perhaps in the way of me realizing I was in love.

I heard the scuffling of his shoes stop as he paused in his packing. "Don't ask me to do something you wouldn't be willing to do."

I kept my head hung, I couldn't honestly say that if I had been in his situation I wouldn't be doing the same thing. And I knew it was unfair of me to ask him to do something that I had done myself numerous times during the wars.

"I know," I started, hesitant. "But I'm tired of chasing you."

"You're what?" He exclaimed, and I lifted my head to gaze at his stunned face. Never before had I noticed that he had such elegant features.

I took a deep breath and braced myself for what was about to come. "I've always come second to you. And you've always been first on mine."

"Heero what are you talking about? You're my best friend," he said, his voice becoming shrill.

i scoffed. "Sure, I suppose that's why you keep running away. First you run to Zechs, and now to L2."

Duo threw the jacket he was holding onto the floor and stomped over to me. His hand clamped down on my shoulder and he bent to glare at me. "I am not running to L2. This has nothing to do with you."

"Regardless, I can't, and will not keep chasing you, Duo." The words came out strained. "I've chased you through different partners, assignments, and space. I chased you all the way through the colonies. And I just can't do it anymore, so if you leave today, don't come back." And with that I stood, staring deep into Duo's stunned eyes one last time before I left the room.

It was amazing how the world just seemed to hush as I took step after step. As though all the life and color that Duo provided me with was being taken away the further I was away from him.

I stopped halfway through the hallway and stared at the papers that were tacked to the wall and as I took in those colored pieces of paper that stole Duo away from me, I realized exactly what I was giving up. A future.

My eyes widened and my breath caught in my throat as a pair of strong, yet gangly arms wrapped around my chest. Duo's face rested against my shoulder blade and I could feel the rough pattern of his breathing, clearly indicating he was upset.

"Chase me one more time," he muttered, squeezing tighter.

I sighed, bringing my hands to grasp his. "I can't, Duo."

"Then come with me." His voice became more and more haggard with desperation, and I vaguely wondered if he too realized that his future was slipping faster and faster away.

"Today Trowa told me not to fuck you while you were so messed up," I blurted out. I'm not sure exactly why I decided to respond in that way, but I just felt the need to explain the situation.

His arms loosened before he froze. I muttered a small curse before turning to face him. He looked absolutely mortified, in fact he probably wore the same expression I did when Trowa had said it to me.

"Why did he say that?" He finally got out, taking a few steps back from me.

Leaning against the wall I gave a small grunt. "The guys are under the impression that I love you."

His eyes grew a fraction wider. "Uh," he tried, but not quite getting anything out. "I mean," a small cough. "Do you?" He asked incredulously.

"I have no idea," I confessed, crossing my arms against me. "I thought that if I could envision being with you in that way I'd find out."

"And have you?"

"No," I said quickly, now unable to make any type of eye contact with Duo. "I think you're handsome but I just don't know," I mumbled, running a hand through my hair. "You know I'd be perfectly happy pretending sex didn't even exist."

Duo chuckled and gave my arm a light pat. "If you want we could just pretend it doesn't exist together."

"Is that your way of saying," I started only to be cut off as his hand clamped down over my mouth.

"Don't even say it," he mumbled. "They've bothered me about it too."

I gripped his wrist in my hand and an involuntary smile found it's way to my lips. "Is this that your way of telling me you're staying?"

And just like that the feelings were gone, along with all the life that had been in his eyes.

We must have stared at each other for an eternity before either one of us moved. As it turned out it was him, and he decided that it would easier to tell me he was throwing away our future while he was sitting on a kitchen chair.

"I have to go, otherwise I'd never be able to rest again," he stated. "But if you go with me, we could rest together."

"Yeah, after you murder someone," I dead panned.

He shrugged in response. "You don't know that for sure."


	9. Chapter 9

**The Stand Still**

**By: SukiNora**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own them, I just like to play with them.**

**Pairings: 1+2, 3X4, 5x?**

**Warnings: Heero POV**

**Chapter 9**

**A.N. This probably will be the 2nd to last chapter. I'm so sorry about the long wait for this update, the story is not dead and neither is Japan Air, I've just had so little time this quarter. However, I do want to apologize for the lengthy periods between my updates. I will try to get better I promise. Thank you for all the reviews even after so long without an update, I read and appreciate them all.**

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We didn't fly to L2 ourselves. There's no way Duo would have been given clearance, since he was still on his leave, and if word got out that I was taking him to L2, I'd most likely be banned from piloting forever. Lady Une would not be pleased when she found out my "sick days" were actually take Duo to L2 days. She'd have to discharge two preventers now. One for murdering a suspect, and the other for aiding and abetting.

I didn't tell the guys that we were leaving. The phone was put off the hook, and when they noticed me missing from work and Duo gone, I was sure they would figure it out. It seemed must easier than spending hours trying to explain the situation to them. After all, I had a hard enough time explaining the situation to myself.

I glanced over at Duo, staring intensely out the window of the shuttle. He looked very statuesque staring out that window. His eyes as empty as the dark void he was staring out at. And while the scene was very visually appeasing, I wasn't sure I liked him with that stature. I'd seen it too many times on myself. His body radiated with pure determination, and that bothered me. That look wasn't meant for Duo.

His eyes have always been so full of emotion. I can always tell how he's feeling by the look in his eye, and he's told me on multiple occasions how irksome he finds it. He's too expressive for his own good, it's how I know he's going to murder someone.

"Stop looking at me," he mumbled, his gaze unaltered.

Sighing, I turned my head towards the aisle. The woman sitting next to us was still staring at our uniforms, Preventers were not usually seen on commercial shuttle flights, and judging by her age it was probably the first time she'd ever seen an agent in the flesh. I hadn't even wanted to wear the uniforms. We didn't really have a reason to, especially since the flight was coming out of our own pockets anyway, but Duo was very adamant about wearing his uniform. It was like he thought hiding behind our organization would make murder easier. Half of me was surprised he wasn't wearing his priest's outfit, but I guess hiding behind God was too blasphemous, even for him.

I haven't murdered someone since I was 18 years old. There have been people killed in the cross fire at raids, assailants who were put down in gun fire trying to resist arrest, but all those deaths occurred in the line of duty. It's been years since I went up to someone, stared them dead in the eye, and then killed them, no matter how much they deserved death. Sitting on that shuttle I vaguely wondered whether or not Duo had ever murdered someone in cold blood.

After surviving two wars, I would assume that he had, that all of us had. But there was something different about Duo from the rest of us, and I could never quite figure out what it was. He never carried the same guilt we all did. Maybe it was because his hands were clean, but maybe it was because murder didn't bother him. Maybe he just had a great poker face. At the time, I wasn't sure which option I would have preferred.

I couldn't help glancing back over at Duo, and I'm sure he was getting annoyed with my roaming eyes. There was just something about him. I let out a deep sigh as I folded my hands in my lap. It had to be love.

I've heard for years that love makes people do crazy things, unfortunately it's mostly at crime scenes in which women have killed their husbands.

My situation wasn't too different from that unfortunately. Love made them kill their husbands, love was making me follow Duo to L2, where death would surely be inevitable.

The whole flight I couldn't get this thought out of my mind: this was not the right way to begin a relationship.

The guys would never forgive me for letting him do this. Hell, I wasn't sure I would ever forgive myself for this. I was letting both our careers be destroyed and giving the go ahead for Duo to traumatize himself. Distancing yourself from death is easy, coping with the death of an innocent person is not. And while the man Duo was hunting was no where near the realm of innocence, I couldn't help wondering whether or not this was just about vengeance. Whether or not this whole trip was about purging Duo of his guilt for the death of that little girl and his recruit. I understood that guilt, but didn't want to believe his obsession had been spurred from his own selfish gain.

Part of me hated myself for even letting that thought come into my mind. Somewhere deep in me I knew that Duo was not hunting this man to make his own pain stop. I think I was just bitter that he wouldn't even let me try to take his guilt away before resorting to murder.

For years Duo has been my salvation. The one thing that actually makes me feel better when the nightmares start up again. Knowing that he was down the hall was an unspeakable comfort, and I felt a distinct feeling of unfairness that I could not be the same comfort for him. Especially since he wasn't even inclined to let me attempt to be.

I knew what Duo was going through. My actions in the war lead to the deaths of many innocent people. My direct actions. Duo wasn't even responsible for the death of the child or his recruit, so the guilt he was feeling couldn't have been that much. At least not enough to be so strong that I couldn't make him feel better.

If I could live a some what normal life, and forgive myself to a point where I could function in society, I could help Duo get over something that hadn't been his fault.

But he didn't care about that. In fact, he wouldn't even acknowledge that I could help him, that wasn't Duo's style. He didn't want anything from me, most certainly not help.

'Or compassion,' I thought to myself.

I became aware just how bitter I was about the whole situation when a sharp pain shot through my jaw. Gritting my teeth has been a very bad habit that I've yet to break.

"Sure I can't talk you out of this?" I mumbled as I massaged my jaw, glancing over at my partner. I wasn't expecting a positive response, but I figured since he was already aggravated I may as well ask.

His shoulders rose and fell visibly from his sigh of exasperation. "We're already on the shuttle, Heero. Give it up," he growled through locked jaw.

It was a better response than I excepted (no swearing), so I shrugged. "Just thought I'd ask."

"You've been asking for five hours," he grumbled. "Stop."

"If we go back to Earth I will stop," I replied matter of factly, shooting a glare his way.

Duo turned from the window and stared at me with a look that projected the very essence of his irritation. "You didn't have to come," he stated, looking me dead in the eye before turning back to the window.

Looking at him while he said that, I realized something very important about myself, and my feelings for Duo.

This whole act had been going on for years. He'd run off and I'd run off after him. He'd get into trouble and I'd get him out of it. All those times I had blindly followed him... maybe they hadn't been so blind after all.

"Yes I did," I mumbled, lowering my head and turning my gaze onto his hands, resting on his knees. They tensed as the words came out of my mouth.

I didn't raise my head, I didn't really need to because I could feel his wide eyes burning into the side of my head. We weren't really used to these types of declarations yet. At least I wasn't used to making them, and he obviously wasn't good at accepting them. Relationships were never a big part in either of our lives, and without having one person with experience, we were kind of fumbling around in the dark with the whole "love" thing. But even as forward as Duo can be, these were the types of situations that he would never initiate seriously.

Never before have I ever wanted Quatre's advice. Of course the one time I want it is the one time I can't call and ask for it.

Slowly, and very carefully, while keeping my eyes down, I inched my hand toward his. I never realized how much actions of infatuation mirrored that of a wounded animal approaching the alpha male.

I paused my hand for a moment. Thinking of Duo as the alpha male of the group sent a slight shiver down my spine. Wufei would kill him or anyone else who questioned his role as the "top dog" of the group.

When my hand finally found his, I only slightly brushed it with my pinky. I wanted to judge his reaction at the touch before progressing. This was so new for both of us, and I didn't want to scare the idea of a relationship out of Duo just by holding hands too quickly.

I glanced up when his hand flinched away from the slight contact. I couldn't say that I didn't expect the action, only that it still hurt. His eyes were wide and fearful. Just the look one wants to see on the face of someone they are trying to be intimate with.

I stilled my hand, and we stared at each other for what felt like an eternity before Duo gulped down the last of his control and pulled his hand from mine.

"I," he stuttered, pulling both hands onto his lap and rubbing them together, as though my touch had infected him with some disease. "I don't think we should get into this right now."

Lowering my eyes, I pulled my hand back clutching it into a fist. "Alright," I whispered, soft enough that I wasn't sure he even heard.

Maybe it had been a mistake to follow him.

"Please don't take it that way," he muttered, the hesitance apparent in his voice. I wondered how much effort it took him to say that.

"Is there any other way to take it?" Unfortunately, I couldn't keep the bitterness out of my speech, and I know he heard the tone. He got the kicked puppy look on his face.

"Heero," Duo began, only to be interrupted.

"Excuse me, sirs?"

Both our heads shot up. "We'll be docking on L2 shortly, I'll need you to fasten yourselves now."

I nodded the flight attendant and she went on her way, reminding other unobservant people to strap themselves down.

We both fastened ourselves to our seats in silence. There just didn't seem like there was much to say anymore.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

"He'll spoon with me at home, but when it comes to a hotel we have to pay extra for separate beds," I grumbled, throwing my suitcase on the queen sized bed closest to the window.

Things with Duo were beginning to get ridiculous. We barely talked on the way from the shuttle port, and when we finally arrived at the hotel he blindly told our cashier we "should probably have a room with two beds."

"Two beds my ass," I mumbled, throwing myself face down onto mattress. "Probably only wants two so that he can sneak out easier."

In all honesty, I'm glad that I thought of that particular explanation. When he told the hotel worker we'd need two beds, I panicked a little bit. Not because I _wanted _to sleep with Duo, but because we'd never gotten a hotel with separate beds. Even during the wars. What was the point? It was more expensive, and Duo usually ended up in my bed anyway. So what changed if not his feelings for me?

I sighed to myself, grabbing one of the pillows and holding it to myself. Maybe I didn't want to think about what had changed. I'd probably destroyed what was left of our friendship by mentioning love.

Duo doesn't do love. And I knew that, so why did I even bring it up?

'Maybe I do love him,' I thought to myself, staring at the badly painted walls of our hotel room. I could feel the corners of my mouth dragging. Stupid love.

I hurled my body off the bed and reached for my gun as the door to our hotel room opened. There stood Duo, in the doorway. He didn't look surprised to have a gun pointing at him, which he shouldn't have. We always reverted back to our old ways a little too much when we were in an unfamiliar environment, a by- product of years worth of violence and surprise attacks.

"Just me," he said softly, setting his suitcase down near the empty bed and sat on the edge of it, staring down at his shoes.

I lowered my gun and set it on the bedside table.

He looked completely void of emotion. I was getting somewhat irritated at the fact that he kept looking so unlike himself. Duo wasn't supposed to be the stoic one. He's never been the stoic one, and he never should be.

He was just supposed to be stupid. He should just laugh and crack jokes at inappropriate times like he always did. He was supposed to be the guy who created awkward situations for his own enjoyment and entertainment, not the one who naturally created them. I hated that things changed. It wasn't fair. I didn't like the way Duo was acting and I wasn't sure how long I could go on being civil. The whole situation was just too unnatural.

"Are you going to bed?" He asked when I threw myself back down on the bed.

"Probably," I grumbled, unable to keep the annoyed tone out of my voice. It was all I could do to not question him about his sleeping choice. Maybe I was just too repulsive for him. That's probably the same reason he would never let me actually comfort him, didn't want my dirty hands on him.

I scoffed and rolled off the bed, intent on going to the bathroom and washing said hands.

"Where are you going?" Duo asked, his eyes following me as I stalked past him.

"Bathroom," I muttered, trying to shake his gaze.

I stood in front of the mirror, my hands clenched into fists on both sides of the sink, and stared at my reflection. I looked surprisingly haggard. My hair was slightly messier than usual, I had bags under my eyes, and despite shaving the previous morning, it seemed as though my beard was growing at twice its normal speed, an unfortunate thing that happens when I get stressed.

"God," I mumbled to myself, reaching down and turning the water to it's coldest setting. I stared at myself as the temperature became frigid.

"This is getting ridiculous," I muttered, splashing the water against my face and neck.

My glasses suddenly felt very heavy in my pocket, and my eyes became dry. Suddenly I realized that I shouldn't care what Duo thought of me. After all, the only thing that I wanted him to feel was obviously out of the question, and after that, why did it matter? I simply would never be the object of his affection. So, there was no point.

I let out a long sigh as I took out my contacts. Even though I knew that my vision was a great liability, sometimes I liked to see the world as a fuzzy mass of colors. It was nice to have things seem simple.

It took a lot of will power not to survey the bathroom for a place to hide my contacts case. I stood firm and glared at the case where it sat on the edge of the sink before unfolding my glasses and putting them on.

Putting my glasses on didn't make me look any less haggard, but at least I wasn't hiding anymore.

I stripped down to my underwear, leaving only my boxers and undershirt. Duo could be as uncomfortable as he wanted to be with my choice of attire, my only concern tonight was comfort. After all, I was surely in for a very uncomfortable couple weeks.

I left the rest of my clothes on the bathroom floor and, taking one last took at myself in the mirror, I prepared myself for the outside world of the hotel room.

Duo was laying in his bed when I came out, and I'm ashamed to say that I was slightly relieved that he wouldn't be getting a glimpse of my slightly nerdy attire. Guess I was more self conscious than I thought.

I sat on the edge of my bed and stared at him. He laid facing the wall, the curve of his body casting a strange looking shadow on the wall from the dim light that he choose to leave on over the night stand.

Somehow the low light encased him as he slept, and for a moment I swore that his outline was glowing.

Breathing deeply I tore my gaze away from him and turned to stare at my feet. They were fairly disgusting. I've always hated my feet. My toenails always seemed as though they needed clipping, and the soles always became so it that little flakes of skin would come off in my socks if I didn't lotion them. They reminded me of dinosaur feet.

The bed creaked as Duo sat up, but I was too busy wondering whether or not I had packed my foot lotion to even notice until the bed sunk as he took a seat next to me.

Together, we were frozen. Horrified at what had come of us, we sat completely still, barely even breathing. Neither of us wanted to be the one to break the ice, the tension between us was much to brittle.

I heard him gulp next to me, and suddenly I became very aware of the situation. We were both afraid.

The bed shifted again and in a moment I found myself staring at Duo's socked feet standing across from my own bare ones. It's always driven me insane that he sleeps with his socks on.

His hand found it's way under my chin, and with the pressure he added, I slowly tilted my head to look up at him. He looked like a terrified child who was about to be scolded by a parent. I'm sure I looked like a wounded animal about to be finished off by the hunter.

Our eyes locked and we just stared at each other until his hand shifted from my chin to trace the rims of my glasses. I could feel my face growing warmer by the second, by the point where knew that if I didn't get his hands off my face I'd turn into a tomato.

I lightly shook my head, and while he did stop exploring my frames, both hands were holding onto the sides of my face. I looked up at him with wide eyes until he brought his lips down lightly on mine.

It was nothing to talk about, very firm, tentative, but both of us were new to this and testing the waters was fine with me. We fumbled around in his stale lip lock for a while, before I tried putting a hand on the back of his neck. The second my hand touched his flesh I jerked it back. Obviously, it had been too personal a gesture.

He pulled back and licked his lips. "Was it too weird?" He asked, dropping his hands from my face to shoulders.

I took in a deep breath and thought about it. It shocked me how quickly the answer came. "Just," I started, not quite getting a grip on what I was trying to say. "New."

He nodded, though he still looked slightly rejected. Slowly, I wrapped my arms around his waist and gave a light tug. A small smile formed on his face, as he slowly came closer, finally placing both knees on the bed and straddling me. Kissing, maybe not yet, but I'm sorry to say we've sat this way before. Actually, as I was recalling all the things we had done, we'd been in a lot of weird and compromising situations. Duo never seemed to mind, and while I had at the time, now it just felt kind of natural.

This time when I put my hand on the back of his neck, I kept it there.

"I like your glasses," he breathed out against my lips, wrapping his arms around me.

I chuckled, through clumsy gasps as he started licking my ear lobe. "Thanks."

"Lets make it work," he whispered in my ear, lightly planting a kiss on the side of my neck. I could barely hear him over my labored breathing, but the words sunk in somehow, and after swallowing the rest of my fears, I nodded.


	10. Chapter 10

**The Stand Still**

**By: SukiNora**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own them, I just like to play with them.**

**Pairings: 1+2, 3X4, 5x?**

**Warnings: Heero POV**

**Chapter 10**

**A.N. I have moved three times, gotten a full time job, and completely neglected my fan fiction for months. I apologize. Part of this chapter was inspired by an episode of the X-Files called Orison in season 7. If you haven't seen it, it's so amazingly creepy...but good. **

**---------**

I wasn't shocked to wake up to the cold space next to me. Disappointed, yes, but shocked? No. In fact, the act had been somewhat expected.

Last night, Duo and I took our first tentative steps into something deeper than the close friendship that we had been so comfortable with for years. I was unsure why he had chosen the night before he would take a trip back in time and become a murderer once more. I thought that we were done with killing, but apparently revenge still warrants death. I just wasn't sure why our relationship had to begin on the eve of it.

I sighed and rolled onto my back, raising my arm above my head to rest the back of my palm against my forehead. I stared at the water stained ceiling of our hotel room and wondered why everything on L2 had to be so dank.

As I laid there, I made a promise that to myself.

"I'll never let Duo come back here," I mumbled, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. This place held only bad memories for Duo. Bad memories and bad experiences. It brought out the worst in him.

Turning slightly, I stared at the spot that Duo had occupied next to me and wondered how long he'd been gone for. It still leaves me breathless to think that he can come and go as he pleases and remain undetected by me. I vaguely said a prayer in thanks that I was not the one he was after. I could only imagine the pain that would be inflicted upon the man he'd been hunting. Or I guess for all I knew, the pain that was being inflicted at that very moment.

As I laid staring at the ceiling, the memories of the previous night flooded back, and I instantly felt my cheeks warm.

My first real kiss, I idly thought to myself, unsure whether or not that fact would later become embarrassing or pathetic. After all I'd accomplished in my relatively short life, I still had yet to master the act that most people perfect at the age of fifteen. I hoped that I would not be plagued by any "late bloomer" jokes, but I was sure that they would come on swift wings upon my arrival back to work, with Duo on arm.

That is, if the guys would still speak to me after this. I couldn't blame them if they didn't. To be honest I wasn't sure if I'd be able to speak to any of them again if they were in my current position.

Here I was, on L2 in a dingy hotel room, waiting for Duo to return after murdering a suspect, effectively ending his career, and possibly my own.

Letting out a deep sigh I rose and sat on the edge of the bed, glancing around the room to see that my bags had been repacked and were sitting neatly by the door. I would laugh at the subtly of the message if it hadn't bothered me so much.

I wasn't sure Duo truly realized what the consequences of his actions were going to be, but apparently he did. He also knew that one of us was still going to need to retain a paycheck once this all was over. Apparently that person would be me. Somehow I wished it was the other way around, that I could take on his burden. While we have both killed in cold blood, I am much less affected by it than he is.

I guess he decided that I had followed him far enough, and that it was time for me to wait until he followed me. Only this time, I wasn't sure I wanted to stop chasing him, and I vaguely hoped that it wasn't only because the decision was being made for me.

I took my time leaving the hotel, taking the time to shower and brush my teeth thoroughly. Each moment I spent in silence, straining my ears so that I may be alerted the second that the door to the room creaked open, signaling Duo's return. It never did.

The check out process took seconds, and then I found myself on the street hailing a cab, though I really had no idea where I was headed. The shuttle port was probably the wiser decision. If I was off colony at the time they placed Duo at a murder scene it would be at least more likely that I wouldn't be charged with aiding and abetting.

Regardless, as I flung the door to the cab open and threw my duffle into the seat next to me, I did not want to go to the wisest destination. Shocking, I thought to myself, straightening my jacket. I never want to do the wise decision where Duo is concerned, and it's always frustrated the hell out of me.

"You'sa Preventer?" The cab driver barked back at me, his accent so thick that it took me a moment to realize exactly what he was asking. He pointed to my uniform jacket enthusiastically to get his point across.

"Yes," I finally responded, half afraid he would poke my eye out with that prodding finger.

"You go to same destination? As other Preventer?"

I wont lie, it took me a moment to understand exactly what my cab driver was trying to tell me. Another Preventer. Did I want to go to the same location as the other Preventer. There was no good way to answer that question. I held my breath, and nodded. After all, how many Preventers could their have been on this side of town. Especially ones in uniform.

Looking back, I knew that it was right decision, but riding in that taxi, I wasn't so sure. I knew that whatever happened that day would be life changing, and most likely not in a good way. I didn't want to watch Duo revert back to the animalistic murderer we were all forced to be as children. That time of our lives should have been behind us now, and replaced by the badge of an organization that maintained peace and order. I had no doubt that Duo's badge would be splattered with blood by the end of the day.

I clenched my fist tightly in my lap as the city began to meld into residential streets. It was hard to believe that one piece of bloodstained metal could shatter the fragile relationship that had just started between the two of us.

I could live with a murderer. I could not live without Duo. Unfortunately, the law would not let me live with a cold blooded killer.

I shivered as I envisioned all the things I thought Duo was doing at the time. The man had no doubt rapped some of the children he abducted, and I knew Duo's particular feelings about such an action. Throughout the entire length of the war, I believe I was the only pilot besides Duo to see the castration of an adult male. I learned very quickly that Duo had a soft spot for children, and would inflict all kinds of damage to anyone who hurt them. I also learned that if he knew any of that damage had been sexual, he had no problem removing the source of the problem. I only prayed that Duo wasn't feeding the said appendage to the old man now.

If Duo would just listen to me, if he would just be smart about this situation, there was a small chance we could get out unscathed, and perhaps go about our lives. If he made it look like an accident, disposed of the body, or even just made one clean fatal shot to the head and claimed self defense, this could all be over. Unfortunately that wasn't really Duo's style, and I knew that.

"Sir, here is house," the cab driver called through the partition. "This is it, ya?"

I turned my head towards the window to the house the driver had gestured to. Looking down the street for a moment in a strange sense of deja vu, it was pathetic that I hadn't figured this out before. There I was, standing about five houses down from the man's original hide out. I wondered how many houses on this block housed more dead bodies than living ones.

Suddenly, I found myself facing the run down pale yellow house that I'd envisioned, only this time it was solidified in front of me. This was the house that contained the man who stole Duo from me.

My feet felt heavy, but I forced them to raise and proceed. I made it onto the porch, with my hand around the doorknob before I realized that no matter what I saw in that house, there was no way it could change my opinion of Duo. It was love. I had been so blinded by love, that no matter what kind of horrific, gruesome form of revenge I came across, there was nothing to make me think less of the man who stood beside me during my darkest hours. The man who tormented me endlessly with domesticity, and forced me to feel human.

As I turned the knob, and gave the door a firm push, I did so with no hesitation or remorse.

The house smelled. No doubt the result of more decaying children. Serial killers that twisted don't stop once they've almost been caught. If he realized he had almost been caught once, I'm sure that he'd quickly acquired some more children to satisfy his disgusting hobby.

I walked slowly down the hallway, my gun poised at the ready, as I made my way into the kitchen with my back facing the wall. I didn't need any surprises, especially not by someone who had been able to sneak up on Duo on their first encounter. On the off chance that I met up with the old man first, I wanted to be ready.

I kept my back against the counter as I roamed into the kitchen. Fruit loops littered the floor, along with a broken bowl and a puddle of milk that had spread throughout cracks in the linoleum floor. A couple chairs had been knocked over, more evidence of a struggle. Everything was so similar, I figured that the circumstances would be the same. Slowly creeping through the kitchen, I searched for any door resembling one that might lead to a basement.

Turns out it was down another hall, and in that hall was something very unexpected. I'd been reaching for the door knob when a small whimper nearly made me jump out of my skin. Sitting at the top of the staircase adjacent to the door sat a little girl with red hair. Tears stained her cheeks, and her eyes were red.

"Are you okay?" I called out, slowly walking to the base of the stairs and extended my hand to her.

"Are you a police officer?" She asked softly, her voice wavering.

I nodded, motioning for her to come down the stairs. "Yes. Was their another police officer here?"

She nodded, slowly making her way down the stairs. I held out both my arms to her and suddenly she came quickly, wrapping her arms around my neck as I picked her up from the stairs, holding her as I brought her into the living room. I needed to find a place to keep her safe.

"Where did he go?" I asked, shifting my hold on her to open a closet. "The other police officer?" I knelt to the ground, pulling her from me and putting her in amongst old coats and shoes. It took her a second to let go.

"Downstairs," she said, the fear returning to her face as she realized that I was going to leave her.

"Stay here, okay?" I asked her, brushing some hair off her face. "No matter what you hear."

She looked unconvinced that it was the correct course of action, so I tried a different technique. Duo had told me that when he didn't want to do something as a child, Sister Helen would make a game out of it. I raked my mind for any game that I could recall children playing. "Have you ever played hide and seek?" I asked her.

She nodded.

"You know, closets are the best places to hide. With all these coats," I motioned to all the clothes handing around her. "No one will ever find you. Promise you wont move?"

For a moment, she stared at me, and it was pretty apparent that she was trying to judge whether my Preventers jacket was real or not. I smiled at her, trying to look like someone she could trust. I hope it didn't come out as awkward as my smiles usually do.

"The other man told me to stay on the stairs. He'll be mad at me."

"No he wont," I quickly answered. "That's my best friend. He's been looking for you. He'll just be glad you're safe. Now stay here."

With a quick nod, I shuffled the coats around her to hide her better and shut the door. I let out a sigh of relief. At least Duo had been smart enough to take the girl upstairs before he did anything rash.

Immediately I realized that there was no way I could keep this under wraps, and pulled out my cell phone as I made my way back to the basement door. I called for back up from the local police department, and was promised that they'd be there in less than ten minutes. I told the operator the location of the little girl and hung up.

Staring at the door, I pocketed my phone and unholstered my gun. I cocked it, and opened the door.

That stench which greeted me poured out of the opening. I stared down that stair case, keeping my back to the wall and my eyes wide as I descended into the dark, red light polluted basement. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust, and when they finally did, I stepped onto the cement floor, and found myself staring at a man tied to a chair, and my best friend sitting on the floor about six feet away from him. He had his arms resting on his knees, a gun held haphazardly between his legs.

"Duo," I called out. He didn't answer. He just kept staring at that man.

"Aren't you going to answer him," the man asked, neither of them breaking eye contact with each other. It was so surreal. They were just completely engrossed with each other.

"Shut up," Duo growled, gripping his gun tighter, but not moving.

I walked up to Duo, my gun held constantly on the man he'd tied to the chair. I put my hand on his shoulder and felt him stiffen. "Lets go," I said, moving my hand down to grab his arm and urge him to stand. "Let the police deal with him."

He allowed himself to be lifted but didn't stop staring at the man. After getting a good look at his face, I should probably rephrase, he was glaring at the man. I'm not sure I've ever seen that kind of anger on his face. It was definitely something that I never wanted to see again.

"You would leave wouldn't you," the man said as a crooked smile grew on his face. "Let the other law officials handle the situation. But you know that wont make her go away."

Duo shrugged off my hand, cocking his gun and stalked up to the man. "I said shut up," he growled, pressing the barrel roughly between his eyes.

"Don't!" I screamed, reaching out for Duo only to be violently shrugged off.

"Stay out of this!" He yelled back at me, shoving my arm away from him, and momentarily aiming the gun at me before returning it to the original target.

"Duo," I said softly, raising my hands so he could see I had no intention of grabbing him again. "Don't."

"Be quiet, Heero," he growled, glaring at the man again.

"You won't make her go away," the man taunted, his smile growing. "You can't."

Duo's mouth curled up in fury, and pressed the barrel harder against the man's forehead. I could see the wheels in Duo's head turning faster and faster. He was going over his choices, and was obviously having a hard time deciding on a future with me, and trying to make his guilt disappear.

"You already saved someone else, Duo," I said softly. "There's nothing else you can do."

"There's only something you should have done before," the man added.

I turned my head to glare at the man, contemplating shooting him myself.

Duo raised a hand to his face as he closed his eyes tightly, growling in frustration before lowering the gun and pulling at the ropes constraining the man.

"What are you doing?!" I yelled, rushing forward only to have a gun shoved in my face.

"I said stay out of this!" Duo screamed, cocking his gun as he completely untied the man. "Stand up," he growled. "I'm not going to shoot you like a dog."

The man smiled and slowly stood up from his chair. Raising his hands out towards his sides, and opening his chest to Duo. "Go ahead," he replied. "Make her disappear."

At that moment, a lot of things were already starting to disappear, not just the ghost of a murdered little girl. I saw my future with Duo slowly disintegrate as his finger tensed on the trigger. I would be the only witness to the murder would be forced to testify. I'd lie, but there are ways to determine whether or not someone is lying. Ways that an attorney would be sure to test.

"Go ahead," the man taunted, walking a step closer to Duo, so that the gun was pressed against his chest. "Isn't that what you want? For her to disappear?"

At that moment, one of the many red light bulbs hanging from the ceiling exploded behind me. I saw the sparks in my peripheral vision, and instinctively turned my head to see what had caused the bulb to burst. The second I had averted my eyes, I heard the shot.

Turning back, Duo stood in the same position, holding the gun in front of him. The man laid on the floor, cringing in pain and groaning as his life flowed out of him and into a puddle on the concrete.

For a moment, the shot had been deafening. When my hearing came back, I heard the police break down the door, and the little girl in the closet scream.

Even as the police called for the paramedics, Duo stood there, staring down at the man, as he stared up at him. Standing still, Duo lowered his gun, and dropped it to the floor. It was immediately taken into evidence.


	11. Chapter 11

**The Stand Still**

**By: SukiNora**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own them, I just like to play with them.**

**Pairings: 1+2, 3X4, 5x?**

**Warnings: Heero POV**

**A.N. I think this is it. The last chapter.**

**Chapter 11**

**---------**

"Don't make this any harder than it needs to be," Wufei growled out, slamming his hand down on the desk in front of him. Une stood behind him, her arms crossed with a dark expression gracing her face. It was clear that more than just my job was on the line. Apparently they decided they also wanted to play good cop bad cop. I was fine with it. Whatever made them feel better about not getting the answer they wanted to hear.

"I'm not," I said sharply, leaning in a bit. "I did not see anything."

"You didn't see anything," Une laughed out in disbelief, shaking her head side to side.

"I didn't see Duo shoot anyone," I clarified. "Polygraph me if you don't believe me. I turned around, heard the gun shot and when I turned back, the man was dead."

Wufei glared at me and moved to sit on the desk in front of me. Apparently I still had enough rights as an agent not to be questioned in the interrogation room. For that I was thankful. At least there were no cameras in our offices. "You could lose your job for this," he whispered, his back facing Une. "You could go to jail for protecting him."

I met his glare, my gaze unfaltering. "I'm not protecting him. I did not see anything," I said firmly, my eyes locked into his.

His lip quivered in frustration and he finally leaned back from his crouched position to rub his temples. Clearly, I wasn't the only one who was getting a headache from the situation. We'd spent nearly an hour saying the same thing back and forth. You saw something. No I didn't. Yes you did. No I didn't.

"Can we have a moment alone?" Wufei grumbled to Une, who sighed in the background but waved her hand dismissively.

"Sure," she replied. "Probably won't do any good anyway."

She stalked past us, shooting one last frustrated glare at me before opening the door to the interrogation room and shutting it loudly behind her. She hadn't said much throughout the questioning. She just sat there glaring with this kind of ashamed look. I wondered if she regretted letting Duo and I work for her.

The silence that proceeded was deafening.

"Why are you doing this?" Wufei finally asked, his eye twitching a bit.

"Not that I'm doing anything dishonest," I replied. "But it's hard for me to believe that if our roles were reversed you wouldn't do the same thing for the person you thought you were in love with."

Wufei stared at me, looking unsure of what to say. "So you've told each other then," he decided on.

"It wasn't planned," I sighed out. I leaned back in my chair and ran my hand through my hair. "It just came up."

"I'm not sure whether or not that's something I should congratulate given the current circumstance."

I chuckled a bit. "I'm not sure myself either."

Wufei sighed, grabbing a chair and pulling it in front of me. "You may not have seen anything," he began hesitantly. "But we both know Duo murdered that man."

"Are you telling me he didn't deserve to die?" I asked carefully. I could tell that Wufei was torn between two senses of duty. His job protocol, and his own morals. As far as I was concerned, what Duo did was well within the realm of justice.

"You know that's not it," he said harshly. "I do not want to see my friends court marshaled for the death of that," he groped for the right word. "Monster. If you cooperate we could get you both a plea bargain."

"Do you really think anyone will fight us on this? That he deserved to die? Why wouldn't people believe that Duo was just protecting that girl."

"It's not that simple," Wufei continued. "The Preventers let this man get away after murdering children, and one of our own trainees. There's no way people wont call this some kind of vendetta for Duo."

Slowly I nodded. As much as I hated to admit it, I could see why that may make the public uncomfortable. A gundam pilot enacting his own revenge outside of the law was bound to make anyone nervous.

Wufei and I sat in silence for a moment, staring at each other. His eyes pleading me to condemn Duo, mine a stone wall, unfaltering in my support of him.

"Wufei," I said slowly. "I understand protocol, and I understand what the stakes are. But after all I've been through in my life, and after all I've done to protect Duo and keep him alive, believe me when I tell you that it will take a lot more than you and Une to keep him away from me."

"We aren't trying to do that, we're trying to save you both," he said quietly.

"I will not lie." I said firmly. "I did not see Duo kill anyone. As far as I'm concerned, that asshole jumped at him and Duo defended himself. With no proof, there's no way that story won't hold up in court if it comes to that."

"They'll polygraph you both, truth serum you. If even one person in the department of justice doesn't like this, they won't let it go until they have the truth."

"I'm not lying," I said firmly.

"Duo doesn't lie," he reminded me.

I stood up from my chair and walked to the door. I was done talking. Wufei didn't stand to follow me. "I guess he'll just have to learn how."

---------------

"Where the fuck are my badges," Duo muttered, rummaging around in his side drawer.

He was sitting on his bed, searching for the rest of his Preventers uniform. His shirt wasn't tucked in at the right places, his tie hung loosely around his neck. I stared at him as he swore and searched for his badges. Not unlike Wufei had said, there was an investigation. No citizen wanted to risk a rogue Preventer, they were too afraid of another war. While I understood, I couldn't help but feel cheated.

Today was the day we'd be forced to make a statement. Due to the fact that we were Gundam Pilots, and had already done so much to prevent war, the public decided that, pending a truth serum accompanied by a poly graph, they would take the results of that on blind faith. It would be aired all over the Earth Sphere.

The truth serum wasn't really a problem. What the public didn't know was all the anti-serums the doctors had pumped us full of during the war. It wouldn't be logical to have your weapon be able to divulge all your secrets if they were ever captured. They'd taken steps to prevent that. I was fairly certain they would still be in effect.

The real problem was the poly graph. I'm not actually certain Duo has ever told an actual lie in his whole life. Staying calm and beating that test would be Duo's problem. We'd been practicing his lying, and at the beginning it wasn't looking good. He'd broken into hives the first time he told me that he had never killed anyone.

"Your medals wont make them less inclined to give you the death sentence if you tell them what really happened."

"You don't know that," he shot back, glaring at me from his place on the bed. "I still can't believe you aren't wearing yours. It's like you're trying to throw me under the guillotine," he muttered quietly after.

"Nothing will happen to you, Duo," I repeated firmly. It felt as though I'd been saying that twenty times a day for the past two weeks. For the time being, both of us had been suspended from duty, leaving us at home, and giving Duo plenty of time to panic.

"How can you be so sure?" He said roughly, shoving the drawer back into the end table with unnecessary force. "How can you even be with me after what I've done," he said softly, looking to the ground.

I was tempted to roll my eyes. Things could never just _be_ with Duo. First he's out for cold blooded revenge, now he feels sorry it. Part of me just wanted to shake him and tell him to pick one.

"It would be somewhat naive to believe that the God of Death has never murdered someone before," I replied firmly, leaning against the door frame. "At least this time you had a good reason for doing so."

That got a small laugh out of him.

"I'm shocked you aren't telling me 'I told you so,'" he grumbled.

I chuckled and sat down on the bed next to him. "We both knew it wouldn't do any good. And nothing I could have said would have stopped you. You like to think more with your emotions than your head."

"I had emotions for you. I should have listened when they said to let it go. Now things are just starting and they're already ending," he trailed off, staring at a blank spot on his wall.

"I will not let anything happen to you," I said firmly, grabbing his chin and forcing him to look at me. "No matter what comes out of your mouth today, the truth or anything else."

"You shouldn't have to run with me," Duo whispered, leaning into my hand. "I'm sorry I got you into this mess."

I sighed, wrapping my arms around him and pulling him to me. "I know I said I was tired of running Duo. But I've realized that I'm just tired of running after you. I'll be okay as long as we're running together."

He buried his face in my chest and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Why do you put up with me," he asked quietly.

I smiled. "You're just worth the trouble I guess," I whispered.

The others met us at the courthouse. Quatre still gave me the evil eye whenever we were in the same room together, and it was somewhat comforting to think that even though I hadn't been the one to the pull the trigger, Quatre would always blame me for what happened. I was glad, I didn't want Duo to have to carry that burden even though he was the one who deserved to carry it.

"I see you didn't wear your uniform," Quatre spat out. I glanced at the others and found that I was the only one dressed in a white shirt, black slacks, and a tie. The others were completely decked out in Preventer apparel.

"There was no need to dress up," I said, putting my arm around Duo's shoulders. "You're making him more nervous than he needs to be."

Quatre glared at me in response before huffing out a big breath of air and stormed ahead of us into the courthouse.

Duo sighed as he watched his friend walk away from him. "I still don't understand why he's not mad at me," he trailed off.

"It doesn't matter," I said firmly. I turned to our other friends, standing awkwardly next to each other looking unsure of whether or not to say anything. "Can you both give us a minute?"

They turned to consult with each other for a moment before nodding. "We'll see you in there," Wufei stated.

"Good luck, Duo," Trowa added, he shot a sympathetic look towards me. We hadn't spoken much since they'd found out what happened. Somehow I think Quatre was to blame for that, but I still couldn't find it in my heart to be mad at him. I'd probably act the same way if I were in his situation.

Duo watched the two of them walk away, and it wasn't until they were both completely out of sight that he let his true nerves show.

"Maybe they'll just throw the book at me," he mumbled. He nervously scratched his arm before looking up at me with scared eyes. It didn't suit him. "If they go for an execution make sure to get my priests outfit. I don't want to go in anything but that."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "You are not going to be executed."

"My cross too. Don't let them take that away from me." He was nervously ranting. Not listening to a word I said. I looked into Duo's flighty eyes and let out a small sigh. He was still going on about his execution apparel when I reached out and cupped his cheek with my hand.

Immediately, he went silent. Drawing his eyes up from the spot they'd been staring at on my tie, we locked eyes. As we stared at each other, I felt his breath becoming unsteady. I moved my hand to the back of his neck and pulled his head toward me.

It was much better than our first kiss. It was the kind of kiss I saw in movies. The kind that said everything that needed to be said without saying anything at all.

I pulled away and rested my forhead against his. His breathing was shallow against my face. I thought I saw tears welling up in his eyes, but he closed them before I could tell. It wouldn't matter. Duo would never cry. He was too strong for that.

I placed my hand under his chin and brought his face up to look at me. "You did what you did in self defense," I said firmly. His eyes widened. "He reached for a weapon, and you fired in self defense. When this is over, we are going to go home and have a feast on every piece of junk food you could ever want. We'll watch bad action movies and sleep in the living room. We'll learn how to let go of the past and start living. What we have will eventually become a relationship, a real one, and someday we'll move into a house with a yard." He didn't try to say anything in response, so I took a deep breath to keep my voice level and continued. "Maybe not right away, but someday, I'm going to learn how to tell you how much you mean to me. We're going to be happy. We'll be so happy that we put Trowa and Quatre to shame."

Duo stared at me, his mouth open slightly. I couldn't tell if he looked sad or scared.

"It's too bad you can't lie for me," he said finally, averting his eyes.

I gave him a slight smile and took his face into my hands. I pressed my lips softly against him again. When we pulled away I smiled softly at him and shook my head. "I'm not lying, Duo. I'm telling you the truth."

The End


End file.
